UNKNOWN to many people, the country has four existing constitutions and this is the reason it’s always in a state of crisis, including armed conflicts.
These are:
- The 1987 Philippine Constitution; framed in 1987 by 48 men and women handpicked by the late President Corazon Aquino, including leftists and prelates and under which her son President Aquino, took her oath of allegiance as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief of all the armed forces to “Obey the Constitution, enforce the laws and do justice to everyone.”
- The Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) ratified by its own Congress at the opening of the CPP’s reestablishment on December 26, 1968, which coincided with the 75th birth anniversary of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. It has two articles in 12 pages.
“The Integration of the Universal truth of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tse-tung’s thought, with the concrete practice of the Philippine Revolution is the Supreme task of the Communist Party of the Philippines,” the leftist fundamental document said in its first paragraph.
- The Constitution and Bylaws of the New People’s Army (NPA), in 16 pages, issued by the “Meeting of Red Commanders and Soldiers on March 29, 1969.” Included in this Constitution and Bylaws is the draft 10-page Basic Rules of the NPA with a preamble.
“The New People’s Army is under the supreme command of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tse-tung’s thought and the Communist Party of the Philippines. It is the revolutionary army of he broad masses of the Filipino People against US imperialists, the comprador bourgeoisie, the landlord and the bureaucrat capitalism,” the preamble said.
Both CPP and NPA are classified as terrorist organizations by the US government and the European Union.
- The Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), which was submitted by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and by Malacañang’s representatives to the peace talks to Congress for approval under House Bill (HB) 499 and, if approved, is to be ratified in a plebiscite exclusively in the areas covered by the BBL. Strangely, the plebiscite is to be funded by taxpayers money, including money to be collected from taxpayers from Luzon and the Visayas who have nothing to do with the Mindanao conflicts.
“With the blessings of the Almighty, do hereby ordain and promulgate the Bangsamoro basic law, through the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines, as the basic law of the Bangsamoro with the central government founded on the principle of subsidiarity and parity of the esteem.”
The preamble of the ARMM law (Republic Act 9054) explicitly declares its existence in pursuant to the 1987 Constitution. The preamble of the HB4994 invokes the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines as basis, employing enigmatic, cryptic and intoxicating prose with dubious syntax, to establish “an asymmetric-political relationship of the Bangsamoro and the central government founded on the principles of subsidiarity and parity of Esteem,” the Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa) said.
Explaining further, Philconsa said:
“The Constitution was ratified by the Filipino people in a plebiscite. Congress of the Philippines derives its existence from the Constitution. Congress may not pass laws contrary to the Constitution. The ‘asymmetrical political relationship’ envisioned between the Bangsamoro and the central government stirs ‘uneven’ and ‘brittle’ ties or bonds that will spawn an offspring of confusions and dysfunctions in the implementation.”
Asymmetrical, in the “New Short Order Oxford English Dictionary: The New Authority on the English Language,” means “not symmetrical, with the parts not arranged in symmetry.”
Symmetry means “proportion: relative measurement and arrangements of parts; balanced arrangement and relation of parts.”
Parity means “the state or condition of being equal; equality of rank, status, nature, character; likeness, similarities, parallelism.” “Parity of esteem” means “the state or condition of administratively comparable educational institutions being regarded as equal.”
Subsidiarity means “the quality of being subsidiary; the principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level.”
To establish asymmetrical political relationship of Bangsamoro with the central government founded on the principles of subsidiarity and parity of esteem is an oxymoron. Subsidiarity means state of being subsidiary and parity of esteem means state of equality of nature or ‘comparable’ or likeness. “The Preamble of BBL confuses rather than enlightens. Is Bangsamoro a subsidiary of or equal/comparable to the central government? Does central government mean the Philippine government or national government to distinguish from local governments?”
- In the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain, the national government was referred to as the “Government of the Republic of the Philippines [GRP].” In HB 4994, it appears the national government refers to the “Central Government.” Is there a distinction between government of the Philippines, national governments on the one hand and central governments on the other?
- Is the use of “asymmetrical political relationship [of Bangsamoro] with the central government founded on the principles of subsidiarity and parity of esteem” concocted to elude or snub the concept of an “associative” relationship between the central and the Bangsamoro government already declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court?
This unsettling and pestering issue of having armed groups operating in Mindanao and elsewhere in the country with their own separate constitutions, territories, sovereignties and flags create a grave and far-reaching national security implications.
By the way, national security is not just about the defense of the State from the viewpoint of the military and police organizations. It is also about unemployment, high electricity and water rates, education, traffic and food supplies, among others
The recurring image of the country is that of a failing State because its four elements—people, territory, sovereignty and government—are already badly damaged.
Indeed, this is reflected by the fact that instead of exercising leadership and coming out with concrete solutions to our problems, say the Mamasapano incident and the distressing daily traffic grind, our officials are always looking for someone or some people to blame on for their inability to govern.
To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.