Trade
Tripper
By Jemy
Gatdula
BACK IN 2008, the Supreme Court gave one of the most important judicial decisions ever in the history of our Republic. As penned by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales in the North Cotobato case, the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain violated the Constitution, creating as it does “a far more powerful entity than the autonomous region recognized in the Constitution. It is not merely an expanded version of the ARMM, the status of its relationship with the national government being fundamentally different from that of the ARMM. Indeed, [the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity] is a State in all but name as it meets the criteria of a State.”
As
I wrote then (“The MOA and of good intentions,”BusinessWorld,
31 October 2008): “The MOA essentially begins with acknowledgments
from the government of the Bangsamoro rights. Then it goes on to
identify the Bangsamoro as the natives, Muslim or not, of Mindanao,
including Palawan and Sulu at the time of colonization, their
descendants, whether mixed or of full blood, and their spouses. The
MOA then designates the territory of the Bangsamoro as the land -- as
well as waters, airspace, and atmospheric space -- embracing the
Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan geographic region. The Bangsamoro Juridical
Entity is mandated to have jurisdiction over those areas, including
‘territorial waters,’ as well as the use of resources. Finally,
the BJE is free to enter into any economic cooperation and trade
relations with foreign countries, establish trade missions in other
countries, and enter into environmental treaties. With that, our
government almost got away with allowing a group of people to
dismember our Republic and to have another State carved out away from
us.”
Contrary
to what most people think, sovereignty is not a requirement in order
for an entity to become a State. As provided for under the 1933
Montevideo Convention, the elements of a State are only the
following: people, territory, government, and the capacity to enter
into relations with other States. As with the MoA-AD then and as it
is now with the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro announced last
Sunday, all four elements have been acquired by the Bangsamoro. This
is an entity that potentially could get portions of OUR territory,
OUR resources, and OUR people.
That
it has the elements of “people” and “government” are seen
from the provisions of Art. I.1 and I.2 of the Framework. Thus, the
“Bangsamoro shall be established to replace the Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).” Also, the “government of the
Bangsamoro shall have a ministerial form. The Parties agree to
entrench an electoral system suitable to a ministerial form of
government. The electoral system shall allow democratic
participation, ensure accountability of public officers primarily to
their constituents and encourage formation of genuinely principled
political parties.”
One
very significant provision is Article I.5, which betrays the
Bangsamoro “people’s” desire to be dis-affiliated from
Filipinos and indicates continued use of the quite discredited (under
international law) “First Nation” argument: “The Parties
recognize Bangsamoro identity. Those who at the time of conquest and
colonization were considered natives or original inhabitants of
Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including
Palawan, and their descendants whether of mixed or of full blood
shall have the right to identify themselves as Bangsamoro by
ascription or self-ascription.”
That
it has the element of “territory” can be seen from the provisions
of Article I above, as well as Article V, particularly Article V.1:
“The core territory of the Bangsamoro shall be composed of: (a) the
present geographical area of the ARMM; (b) the Municipalities of
Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in the province
of Lanao del Norte and all other barangays in the Municipalities of
Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigkawayan, Pikit, and Midsayap that voted
for inclusion in the ARMM during the 2001 plebiscite; (c) the cities
of Cotabato and Isabela; and (d) all other contiguous areas where
there is a resolution of the local government unit or a petition of
at least ten percent (10%) of the qualified voters in the area asking
for their inclusion at least two months prior to the conduct of the
ratification of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.”
That
it has the “capacity to enter into relations with other States”
can be seen in Article III.2.c, whereby the Bangsamoro has “the
power to enter into economic agreements.”
That
the Bangsamoro and the Philippine government has an “asymmetric”
relationship means nothing. When the Framework Agreement takes
effect, the Bangsamoro can at any time claim the status of being a
State as it has -- with the complicity of our government -- acquired
all the elements of one. It has all the powers of a State: police
powers, taxation, and eminent domain. It even has its own executive,
legislative, and judicial branches of government.
And
the clincher why we know the Bangsamoro is a State is because not
once under the Framework Agreement do we see the Bangsamoro subject
to the Constitution.
No comments:
Post a Comment