SULU – An influential and respected Tausug politician has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to make good on his threat to establish a “revolutionary government,” so he could quickly reconfigure the country’s regions and shift to a federal form of government.
Dr. Sakur Tan, who is running anew for governor of Sulu in the May elections, made the statement ahead of the plebiscite for the controversial Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) on January 21 and February 6 in the soon-to-be abolished Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
If the BOL, or Republic Act (RA) 11054, is approved, it will replace the ARMM with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which will be dominated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that signed a peace deal with the Philippine government in 2014.
Sulu Gov. Toto Tan filed a petition with the Supreme Court last year questioning the legality and constitutionality of the BOL.
The Philippine Constitution Association has also asked the high court to reject the BOL, saying the law violates the 1987 Constitution that mandated only one organic act for Muslim Mindanao, the ARMM law or RA 6734 passed in 1989 and amended by RA 9054 in 2001.
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“Only through federalism you can configure the territories that will constitute the federal states and not cluster only the laggards together like the five provinces in the ARMM. Now they say that (BOL) it is also federalism na i-isang region ang gagawin sa BOL, but it is not, it is an isolation, because it will only be constituted by five provinces that are laggards, so it is only through federalism that you can mix the laggards with the affluent, otherwise, these laggards will never progress.”
“Kaya para mas mapadali ang federalism, dapat mag-declare na tayo ng revolutionary government to make things easier. So anong nangyari, sandali lang ay nagawa na yun Constitution natin. So the President can now appoint members of the commission that will draft the new Constitution and then come up with the new government and then come up with the form of government that we will have. Instead of a unitary form of government then we can have a parliamentary-federal system of government,” Tan said, adding, “It is far better than creating a monster like the BOL.”
Duterte has repeatedly vowed to push for a change in form of government – from presidential system to federal – and even threatened to make Mindanao a federal region if lawmakers fail to amend the Constitution to pave the way for new federal government.
He said the current unitary system has spelled so much trouble. When he was mayor in Davao City in southern Philippines, Duterte had been strongly campaigning for the establishment of a federal form of government and in many of his public appearances and speeches the President said federalism is the next best thing for the country.
Duterte also vowed to step down – even before his term ends on 2022 – as soon as the new federal government is fully functional. “Do not be afraid of a dictatorship because I will not be the one,” Duterte said.
He also cited the precedent set by Corazon Aquino, who established a revolutionary government soon after leading an uprising in 1986 that ended the Marcos dictatorship. Aquino sacked all elected officials, abolished Congress and tore up the 1973 Constitution in favor of a provisional charter. She handpicked a commission to write a new Constitution, which was ratified by plebiscite in 1987.
Mayors, Sultans back revolutionary government, federalism
Tan said majority of the municipal mayors in Sulu are also supporting the establishment of a federal government, including the 5 influential sultans – Sultans Ibrahim Bahjin, Muizuddin Jainal Bahjin, Muedzul-Lail Kiram, Mohammad Venizar Julkarnain Jainal Abirin and Phugdalun Kiram.
“More than half of the mayors or 15 out of the 19 municipalities overwhelmingly (approved this) and joined me in this clamor for federalism and if need be, call for (the establishment of) a revolutionary government. The legitimate Sultans of Sulu will also join us and I am very sure of that. As their Spokesman and Special Envoy, I speak for the Royal Council of the Sultanate of Sulu comprising the five Sultans of Sulu,” he said.
Tan said even before Duterte became president, he is already pushing for the establishment of a federal form of government and even went around the country campaigning for it. “Everybody knows about that. In fact I read a magazine shown to me by a professor of President Duterte, lawyer Sixto Brillantes, which quoted President Duterte that if he wins the presidency, he will declare a revolutionary government.”
“So President Duterte is just being true to his words and he means what he said. If you want a federal system, you must declare a revolutionary government now. Federal system through revolutionary government and if we have to declare it, the sooner the better,” Tan said.
He said the lawyers of the nongovernmental organization called Volunteers against Crime and Corruptionwhich is headed by Dante Jimenez will also file their petition (similar with Gov. Tan’s petition) in the Supreme Court and intervene.
Tan also took a swipe on the group of MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim who went to Sulu recently to campaign for the ratification of the BOL. “For us, we held a series of fora where we tried to make the people participate and understand what BOL and federalism is all about. You do not just come and make people participate without making them understand. That is the problem of people who just come to our area and tell our people this is it and this is that, without making them understand. They think that people here are stupid, and they don’t know that our people also think they are stupid,” he said.
On Monday, some 10,000 Muslims here rallied behind the proposed establishment of a federal government. The Tans and members of the pro-Duterte group called Kilusang Pagbabago led by Ariel Urao, and municipal mayors also participated in the rally where speakers discussed about the proposed government.
Wedzmar Abdurajak, an executive assistant of presidential daughter and Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, was also here and spoke during the rally. He thanked the organizers and huge crowd for their support on the proposed federal government. (Mindanao Examiner)
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