By Carlito Dar
BAGUIO CITY–Sen.
Francisco “Chiz” Escudero said he is of the position that if the Basic
Bangsamoro Law or BBL is transmitted to Senate as it is, it will
not be approved as there are certain provisions that need to be
amended in reference to the Philippine Constitution.
Escudero, in a press
conference with the local media here said under the BBL, the Shari’ah
court’s decision will be final and executory, which means it cannot be
reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Moreover,the only
body that can discipline the judges in their court is their own Judicial
Bar Council.
“These are
unconstitutional as the Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and
there must only be one JBC under the Constitution,” Escudero said.
The senator also
questioned the provisions that will give the Bangsamoro territories their own
or independent Commission on Audit, Civil Service and Commission on Election.
“Why do they need a
separate COA and CSC, do they have their own system of accounting and auditing,
as well as their own rules on the security of tenure of civil servants,” he
asked.
The 10 percent minimum
voters’ requirement for a barangay or municipality to be placed under the
Bangsamoro region is also an issue with Escudero.
“Why should the 10
percent of total registered voters be a majority ruling and dictate outcome for
the other 90 percent voters in their area; why not bring it to at
least half or even 25 percent for the vote to have a referendum,” he said.
The 10%
majority threshold was adopted in the creation of the
Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
This should not
be the case for the BBL because the other 90 percent also have the right
to decide for their own future, he said.
Escudero also called
for an “opt-out clause” to be added in the BBL as under its present
set-up, any area, municipality or province can be asked regularly or yearly if
they want to join the BBL region but they cannot choose to get out, once they
are already included.
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