At its plenary session Tuesday night, June 1, the Senate
suspended consideration of its version of the bill postponing the 2022 first
election of parliament members in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao, even as Senate President Tito Sotto urged BARMM officials and
supporters to “lobby” also in the House of Representatives.
The Senate session was as usual streamed live via the
chamber’s Facebook official page, with Bill author Francis Tolentino taking the
center stage in answering questions from colleagues at the continued period of
interpellation.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, taking the role as last member to
ask questions, capped his inquiries with an observation that the Senate
appeared more aggressive in rushing up the passage of the bill than the lower
chamber (House).
His conveyed observation prompted a brief suspension
session for about 15 minutes.
When the session resumed, Majority Floor Leader Miguel
Zubiri moved to suspend consideration of the bill until their next session
today (Wednesday), Thursday and Friday, June 4. Friday would be the last
regular session day of the 18th Congress for a sine die adjournment.
But before acting on Zubiri’s motion for suspension on the
BARMM election-postponing bill, presiding Senator Sotto made a remark in
corroboration of Lacson’s observation.
Sotto told the session, attended by some BARMM officials
including Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo, he had learned from House
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco that their deliberation of the counterpart bill was
“stalled.”
He said BARMM officials and other supporters of the
proposed poll postponement and extension in the lifespan of the Bangsamoro
Transition Authority (BTA) from 2022 to 2025 “should make lobby also in the
House” to persuade members of the lower chamber into acting on their version at
pace with the Senate.
Sotto assured that the Senate can pass the bill
simultaneously with or even before the House passed its version.
In his interpellation time, Senator Lacson also wondered
why President Duterte has not certified the bill as urgent for the two chambers
of Congress to act on it with dispatch as they did in other certified measures.
Earlier, Senator President Sotto and Speaker Velasco had
reportedly assured President Duterte in the presence of BARMM officials that
both legislative bodies would pass the bill swiftly event if it would entail
them holding special sessions after the June 4 adjournment sine die.
Published reports said the Senate has earlier expressed
intention to pass the poll-postponing bill for second reading last week.
Supporters of the bill were hopeful that the Senate will
make the second reading passage between Tuesday and Friday.
Lack of BARMM electoral code
Meanwhile, in Monday’s session (May 31), Senator
Tolentino said it would be impossible for the BARMM to hold its first regular
elections in May 2022 regardless of the fate of Senate Bill No. 2214
Tolentino cited at least three reasons elections would be
impossible next year. One, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) or the
regional parliament has yet to enact an electoral code. Two, the BARMM’s
parliamentary districts have yet to be apportioned. And three, the region has
yet to create a registry of voters
“It would appear that we have reached a stage where it is
really impossible for us right now, as we speak, to arrive at a conclusion
wherein legislation would result in an election (sic),” said Tolentino, the
bill sponsor
Tolentino said the COVID-19 pandemic hampered work on
these requirements, and funds from the national government initially meant for
the BARMM were diverted to the pandemic response.
Electing the 80 members of the regional parliament will
be different from electing district representatives. A new electoral code will
be needed to define the conduct of elections in the autonomous region.
The members of the parliament would also be elected based
on parliamentary districts, which had yet to be apportioned. And until the
districts are defined, they could not begin work on the registry of voters.
Tolentino said the BTA was also waiting for the release
of 2020 census, which would determine the parliamentary districts. The
Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the measure that created BARMM, required each
district to have a population of at least 100,000.
‘Pass a simple bill’
The senators reiterated discussions on simplifying the
bill to amend only the provision in the BOL that scheduled the first regular
elections in May 2022
Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said a “simple bill”
would suffice to resolve senators’ confusion over the proposal, particularly on
proposed revisions on the allotment of parliament seats.
Last week, hundreds of supporters of the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) gathered in a protest rally in Basilan province over
complaints that they would be sidelined if the bill passed Congress. The group
cited the Senate bill’s supposed provision increasing the parliament seats
allotted to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from 41 to 47.
Tolentino clarified that the proposal retained MILF’s 41
seats. The other six seats would be allotted to the MNLF, which currently holds
nine seats. He said this is reflected in a “cleansed version” of the bill.
Drilon reiterated a proposal by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri
last week to scrap a section in SB 2214 that amends the allocation of
parliament seats in the BTA and and stick to the existing allocation as stated
in the BOL
“Do we need to amend? The answer is ‘no.’ This makes our
task simpler because the proposed section is totally unnecessary,” said Drilon.
“There is a need to expedite this bill to provide
stability to the region… (The bill should be) a simple postponement of the
election,” he said.
The veteran lawmaker said Congress has clear authority to
legislate the postponement of the autonomous region’s elections. He cited a
2012 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of a law that
postponed elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the BARMM’s
predecessor.
Congress passed at least seven laws that postponed ARMM's
elections, he said.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson earlier argued that postponing
elections in the BARMM would require a plebiscite approval because it would
affect the people’s suffrage rights.
A plebiscite won’t be necessary, Drilon responded. He
said the constitution only requires plebiscites on amendments to provisions
that are “constitutionally essential” to the creation of an autonomous region.
The date of its first regular elections isn’t, he said.
Holdover provision, accountability
Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr. also reiterated his
call to clarify when the terms would end for the current BTA members.
Tolentino said a clear provision on holdover capacities
would be inserted into the final bill.
He also said the current BTA members would be eligible
for reappointment as long as the president would issue new appointment papers.
Sen. Imee Marcos, meanwhile, was concerned about the
funds downloaded to the BARMM. She said an accounting and liquidation of
appropriations and block grants to the BARMM – amounting to P160.8 billion – were
needed “so that we can get a full output report.”
Tolentino said the BTA did not handle the funds disbursed
to the region. Most of the money went to the line agencies that implemented the
projects for which the funds were allotted, he said.
Marcos disagreed. She said the bulk of the amount went to
the transitional authority.
Tolentino said the matter could be tackled in the next
budget season, and that he would support Marcos’ proposed inquiry to ensure
“accountability.” (ALI G. MACABALANG / MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
