Comelec, etc. not stripped of powers

THIS REFERS to the news item titled “It’s back to BBL after Senate tackles budget, says Drilon” (News, 11/22/15).

The report suggests that the “revised version of the bill or the Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region” filed by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “removed controversial provisions [in the original Bangsamoro Basic Law or BBL] which would allow the Bangsamoro to have a separate Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit, Ombudsman and Commission on Human Rights.”

There is nothing in the BBL that seeks to replace nor, in any way, diminish the powers, mandates and duties of the abovementioned independent constitutional bodies.

On the alleged separate Comelec. Section 9, Article 7 of the proposed BBL explicitly states that the proposed Bangsamoro electoral office shall be “a part of the Commission on Elections” and shall perform the functions thereof in the autonomous region. The Bangsamoro electoral office will therefore be akin to a Comelec regional office, subject to the full control and administration of the Comelec itself.

On the alleged separate Commission on Audit, Section 2 of Article 12, in relation to Section 2 (7), Article 5 of the original BBL, emphatically declares that the existence of the Bangsamoro’s auditing office “shall be without prejudice to the power, authority and duty of the COA to examine, audit and settle all accounts, pertaining to the revenues and the use of funds and property owned and held in trust by any government instrumentality, including GOCCs.”

It is clear that the BBL affirms, preserves and respects the powers, authorities and duties of the COA as the state’s supreme auditing institution in the Bangsamoro, as it is elsewhere in the Philippines, when it comes to public funds.

On the alleged separate Ombudsman. It should be noted that the BBL never mentions the Ombudsman. This in itself shows that there is no intention to diminish the powers of the Ombudsman or to exempt Bangsamoro officials from the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman. The primary disciplinary authority proposed to be granted to the Bangsamoro government over its employees (which should not be construed as “exclusive jurisdiction”) does not take away from the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman, because the cases that the Ombudsman investigates motu proprio or those that are filed before it concerning Bangsamoro officials remain within its jurisdiction. It merely reiterates the principle granting heads of agencies the jurisdiction to investigate and decide matters involving disciplinary action against officers and employees under their jurisdiction.

On the alleged separate CHR. There is nothing in the BBL which categorically says that the CHR will no longer function or have any authority on matters of human rights protection and promotion in the Bangsamoro. The fact is there is now existing a regional Human Rights Commission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; together with the CHR, this regional office takes care of human rights protection and promotion in the ARMM.

—MOHAMMAD AL-AMIN JULKIPLI, legal team, Government Peace Negotiating Panel for Talks with the MILF, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process