BARMM Dismemberment
On September 9, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the Province of Sulu is not a part of the Bangsa Moro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) since the province voted against the ratification of the new Bangsamoro Organic Law in the plebiscite held on January 21, 2019.
This now opens a Pandora box. Can the constituent provinces, cities, and other local government units demand to leave BARMM through a plebiscite or other means? It looks like that the majority of the people of Sulu do not want to be part of the new autonomous region. It would not be far fetched to think that other constituent units might want to leave the sub-state, too.
Again, the Philippine Constitution and a plebiscite for the purpose of creating a Moro autonomous region was used for limiting the constituent parts of the Moro autonomous region. The Christian government insisted that the phrase “constitutional process” meant the holding of a plebiscite to determine the composition of the Autonomous Region. The Tripoli Agreement, a binding international document signed between the MNLF and the Philippine Government in Tripoli, Libya under the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) provided for the original 13 provinces (now gerrymandered into several more provinces) and the cities therein. Without any strong endorsement or strong campaign on the benefits of autonomy, it was but natural for the great majority of the Christian settlers to vote against it. Many Moros also voted against it, including the City of Marawi.
The blood, sweat, tears, lives, and destroyed properties of the Moro people who fought for centuries against colonization from the Spanish, the Americans, the Japanese and the Indio-Filipinos were all for naught as the Moro destiny was put squarely in the hands of Christian Indio-Filipino settlers.
Thus the the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the supposed homeland of the Bangsa Moro, was reduced to 5 provinces, without any cities. There were more Moros living outside ARMM than inside ARMM. Later, Marawi City joined ARMM. Amazingly, Cotabato City, which was not part of ARMM, has been the de facto seat of the ARMM government. This begs the question, if the people of Cotabato City voted against ARMM, why did they allow the seat of the ARMM government to be located there?
And now, using another plebiscite and the Philippine Constitution, the Supreme Court removed the Province of Sulu, the former seat of the once-powerful Sulu Sultanate, from BARMM.
NO DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES
Why did the majority of the people of Sulu vote against the organic law? Most people would quickly say that it was because of ethnic differences. The TaoSugs do not like the Maguindanaon, and vice versa. Maybe so. But it is the custom of most, if not all Filipinos to favor their relatives, friends and those belonging to their ethnic group. But there are ways to minimize those things.
First is the use of the Merit System. Get the Best and Brightest. But nowadays, in the Philippines (and even in the U.S.) that would be hard to do. If the leaders are mediocre people, they don’t want to be surrounded by the best and brightest. They want to shine, and so they surround themselves with even more mediocre people.
Second is the use of democratic processes in a government structure. When the ARMM was officially launched in 1990, it was an all-MNLF affair. The leaders and people of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari ran the region. Even with a very small ARMM pie, most Moros – hoping against Hope – supported the creation of the ARMM But it soon became apparent that not everyone was getting a piece of that small pie.
It may be the height of of incompetence or stupidity or corruption, that after decades of Moros governing the so-called Autonomous Region, the Philippine Supreme Court declared that ARMM was NOT autonomous at all! It was all a sham, then!
Apparently, the same thing is happening with BARMM. It is an all-MILF affair. The executive leaders, majority of the parliament members and the staff are all members or supporters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with a few seats going to the MNLF. There is no opposition to talk of; no checks and balances. There are no democratic processes. The rest of the Bangsa Moro people can just look on.
And where are the best and brightest Moros?! BARMM administration even gets Christian officials and staff, instead of more intelligent and qualified Moros.
Lest we forget, let us be reminded that the fight for Moro freedom and real autonomy did not start with the MNLF or MILF and will not end with them It started and will end with and by the Bangsa Moro people themselves.
Perhaps, an autonomous sub-state with its leaders under the auspices of the national leadership – which, since the reign of the Elder Marcos, has become dictatorial with great powers — is not the proper solution.
The term Bangsa Moro (Moro Nation) was first used in the Zamboanga Declaration of 1924 and the Dansalan Declaration of 1935 where Moro leaders affirmed that they would not want to be part of an independent Philippine state and would rather remain with the US or be independent states themselves. The term Bangsa Moro was revived in the late 1960s/early 1970s in the fight for Moro freedom. The Bangsa Moro Liberation Organization (BMLO) led by Rashid Lucman, Salipada Pendatun and Macapanton Abbas, Jr. was the revolutionary group that carried the name Bangsa Moro nationally and internationally. Before 1924, there was no such thing as Bangsa Moro.
Historically, there was not one Moro Nation, but several Moro nations — the Sultanate of Sulu, the Sultanate of Maguindanao, the Confederation of Ranao Sultanates, the Rajahnate of Buayan, and their vassal nations. Perhaps there’s a need to find another solution, one that does not need a single united Moro autonomous region.
Perhaps it’s time to seriously consider Federalism. Not just for the Moros, but for the whole Philippines…
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Postprandial Musings, 2.0 