MANILA – The honorable Senator Miriam Santiago is a brilliant professor and an expert in constitutional law. We certainly appreciate her insights and opinion on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
We assure the good Senator and the public that through every stage of the negotiations, we remained ever mindful of the President’s instructions that any agreement we must conclude must be within the framework of the 1987 Constitution, and accordingly, the roadmap set by the CAB leads to Congress as the established lawmaking institution.
We will be seeking a meeting with the Honorable Senator and other legislators to extensively discuss the different provisions in the CAB and to allow for a deeper understanding of the context and substance of the documents.
In the meantime, we are waiting for the Bangsamoro Transition Commission to finish its draft bill on the Bangsamoro which will be endorsed by the President as an administration bill to Congress for their due consideration and passage at the soonest possible time.
The Bangsamoro Basic Law, as enacted by Congress, shall serve as the organic act for the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao provided for in the 1987 Constitution.
Santiago said the CAB violates the Constitution because it creates a Muslim sub-state.
20