(This is the 3rd and last instalment of Sultan Firdausi
I. V. Abbas’ opposition to the “amended”
Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) by the Senate Committee of Senator Ferdinand Marcos,
Jr.)
By DR. FIRDAUSI I.Y. ABBAS, Ph. D.
Sultan of Lanao
Philippine Citizenship
The last
sentence of Article ll, Sec. 4 of the Marcos version reads:
“This
provision shall not in any way derogate from the provisions of Article lV of the
1987 Philippine Constituion.”
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MUSLIM Bar Association of the Philippines, Inc.
(MUSBARAP)
President Sultan Firdausi I.Y. Abbas (center) was the guest
speaker
at Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance’s
round table discussion on
August 29, last year. Associated on
his right is Dean Ederson Tapia, College of
Governance and
Public Policy, University of Makati and former senate president
Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (Supplied Photo)
|
Article lV of
the 1987 constitution is a reproduction of the 1935 and 1973 constitutions on
Philippine Citizenship. Article IV,
Section 1 of the 1987 Philippine constitution provides “Those who are citizens
of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this constitution.” This
provision is based on the 1973 constitution which provides under Article lll,
Section “1) thereof: “Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of
the adoption of this constitution.” This
provision is likewise based on the 1935
constitution which provides under Article IV, Section 1) thereof: “Those who
are citizens of the Philippine Islands at the time of the adoption of this
constitution.”
The Bangsa
Moro is considered to fall under Section 1 of the Article on Philippine C. the
constitutionalist Jose N. Nolledo, who was a member of the Presidential
Constitutional Commission in 1986 and a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional
Convention pointed out three
classes of Filipino citizens falling under Section 1–
those who are citizens at the time of the adoption of the 1935
constitution: 1. Spanish subjects born
in Spain who resided in the Philippines and were residents at the time of the
adoption of the 1935 constitution. 2. Spanish subjects born in the Philippines
and were residents thereof at the time of the adoption of the 1935 constitution.
3.Spanish subjects by naturalization who were residents of the Philippines at the time of the adoption
of the 1935 constitution.
Moros were
never Spanish subjects. They cannot even become Spanish subjects or nationals
by naturalization under Spanish law because they were Muslims. The Philippine
Naturalization law which is based on Spanish and Christian law also
disqualifies a Muslim from being naturalized as a Filipino citizen because one
of the grounds for disqualification is Belief in Polygamy, thus a Muslim, even
if he is not married, but because he believes in polygamy which his religion
allows, is disqualified. This is very clear in CA No. 473, a very pernicious
law which to this day is enforced: “Section 4 – Who are disqualified- The
following cannot be naturalized as Philippine citizens:
c)
Polygamists or believers in the practice
of polygamy.”
Militant Moro student
organizations in the mid-sixties rejected this provision and declared that
pursuant to the constitutional provision on citizenship, the Moros are not
Filipino Citizens because they were never conquered and never subjects of the
Spanish crown.
The fault of Senator Marcos is he
was concerned primarily with the alleged constitutional infirmities but his
version suffers the same defect.
Immediately one sees this in the
preamble of his version “… ABOLISHING THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM
MINDANAO”. Article X, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, sections 1 and 15 thereof very
clearly provides that : Section 1. …There shall be autonomous regions in
Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras as hereinafter provided.” “Section
15. There shall be created autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the
Cordilleras ….” The autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao is a
constitutional mandate and cannot be abolished by a mere congressional fiat. It
can be re-organized, re-constituted, reformed, re-established etc., but not
abolished. Furthermore many of the
alleged unconstitutional economic provisions are in R.A. 9054.
Marcos failed to grasp the real
import and goal of enacting a law for the south and the Bangsa Moro. It is to
usher in peace. Peace can be achieved only if there is mutual respect for each
other’s culture, traditions, political dogmas and religions as well as equal
protection for the pursuit, practice and enjoyment of these rights for as long
as laws are not transgressed; economic
contentment which means economic opportunity in the areas, efficient basic
services and just administration of the laws. But before all these, there must
be acknowledgment of the historicity of the Bangsa Moro and their inalienable
right to their patrimony. When the bases-historic and legal for these are
negated, then there will be resentment and protest.
To sum it up, what Marcos did was
much ado over nothing.
Bangsa Moro Constitutional Convention
Neither the MNLF nor the MILF can
solve the problem in the south. The fate of the Bangsa Moro is not even in
their combined hands. They are not even .1% of the roughly 16 to 18 million
Moros and their arms combined is not even 5% of the arms of the Bangsa Moro.
Furthermore, they have failed to prove their competence and ability to lead.
The MNLF controlled the ARMM for five years which was a dismal failure. The
MILF in a short span of time exposed their ignorance of Islam and the historicity
of the Bangsa Moro and their propensity to control the new political entity
pursuant to the very law they propose and the appointment of Mohagher Igbal’s nephew
as COMELEC Commissioner.
The Moro people yearn for peace
and live normal lives. The fiery cry for secession has been tempered by the
acceptance of autonomy long ago but unfortunately autonomy has been as elusive
as independence. The government must adopt concrete measures to avert the
resurgence of radicalism of the Moro youth which if infused with the zealous
and fanatical jihadism now engulfing the middle east and aggressively gaining
adherents the world over, will be a phenomenal force terribly impossible to
pacify and difficult to overcome.
Congress should now pass a law
calling for a Bangsa Moro constitutional convention wherein all the Moro
sectors shall be guaranteed appointed representatives and together with freely
elected delegates duly reflect in this fundamental law the historicity, identity,
aspirations, sentiments, hopes and dreams of the Bangsa Moro. Only when all the
stakeholders have the right to be represented and participate in the enactment
of the fundamental law for the Bangsa Moro can the viable and correct approach
in solving the age-old Mindanao problem really commence.
(The writer is the President of the Muslim Bar
Association of the Philippines, Inc., Chairman of the Bangsa Moro Party and
Chairman of the United Filipino Movement .)
