Enemy of the good

To conclude an acceptable agreement when a better deal is available would be a mistake. To reject a good bargain in the hope that something better will come along in the future could also be a mistake—and, possibly, a bigger mistake.

Businessmen place much importance on the concept of “present value”; in simple terms, the “bird in hand better than bird in bush.” One hundred pesos in your pocket now is worth more than P100 provided to you 12 months hence. Cash in hand allows a person to address urgent, perhaps, unpostponable needs or opportunities, say, a medical emergency or a one-time investment offer.

Delay can also be more costly, especially if the rejection of the bargain involves a significant measure of risk. A Tagalog proverb, “Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo (Of what use is the grass to a horse already dead),” implies that the timely delivery of benefits, the grass, might have kept the horse alive.

The peace council has endorsed the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, as compliant with the Constitution and responsive to the needs of the Bangsamoro region. It has recommended refinements in the bill, but believes that these, while affirming constitutional provisions, do not renege on what government negotiators have offered at the peace talks—because they are consistent with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s acceptance of integration into the Republic.

The draft BBL is not a perfect law. Elements of the current BBL draft, or of any BBL law, will remain ambiguous, partly because some provisions will need implementing rules and regulations that the Bangsamoro Assembly will pass.

We do appear to demand perfection, a laudable virtue that has earned compliments for our skills in preparing comprehensive, carefully-constructed plans. We get lower marks on implementation and enforcement. Perhaps, our strength in planning relates to our weakness in execution.   Plans and laws admirable for their detail may become difficult to implement when overtaken by unexpected developments, for instance, a storm surge of “Yolanda” intensity.

The drive for perfection is commendable, as long as we remember that only God (or Allah) is perfect. What mere mortals produce must remain imperfect. Legislators impose an impossible task on themselves when they ambition to craft a law that will deliver all potential benefits and avert all potential problems.

Some of the laws promulgated by the Bangsamoro Assembly may prove vulnerable to challenges on constitutional grounds. Happily, our system provides for a Supreme Court that can rule on these issues. To those who questioned the constitutionality of some provisions in the draft Local Government Code, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ, offered a standard reply:  “Let the Supreme Court decide.”

We do not need a perfect BBL. Peace advocates (and legislators) must avoid trying to load all of their noble ideas into the law.  Better to focus on ensuring that the law is clean of any provisions that are obviously unconstitutional, demonstrably discriminatory, or clearly impractical. What is crucial is the availability of mechanisms that permit Bangsamoro and national institutions to make corrections in the law as needed.

These mechanisms exist. The BBL will not curtail the oversight powers of the president, Congress and the Supreme Court.  But the Bangsamoro government needs space and time to test the relevance of their law to the realities on the ground. Following the principle of subsidiarity, the national government must give the Bangsamoro leaders the chance to exercise their mandate for autonomous rule.

What we need, therefore, is a workable BBL that can be passed as quickly as possible. The peace council takes comfort in the fact that 14 of the 18 living framers of the 1987 Constitution, which mandated the establishment of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera regions have expressed support for the present BBL draft.

Autonomy for Muslim Mindanao has been on the agenda for nearly 30 years, when it emerged as an issue for the 1987 Constitutional Commission. Over 17 years of discussions and debates with the Moro National Liberation Front have informed the process that led to the crafting of the framework agreement for Bangsamoro autonomy. Finally, the MILF and the government have reached a consensus on an acceptable BBL draft.

Much work has gone into this draft—and much blood spilled in the decades-long delay in its formulation. Given the country’s diversity and many divisions, there will be parties that will oppose BBL for reasons both noble and ignoble. The danger is allowing their presumed passion for perfection to mask their unwillingness to accept any meaningful autonomy for the Bangsamoro.

They claim they want only the improvement of the law, but actually seek to prevent its passage through a never-ending process of fine-tuning—even at the cost of spilling more blood. This strategy makes the unreachable perfect the enemy of the attainable good.

Edilberto C. de Jesus ([email protected]) is professor emeritus at the Asian Institute of  Management.