Treason raps filed vs. govt panel over MILF peace deal

(Updated 7:43 p.m.) Two party-list lawmakers have filed criminal charges against the peace panels of both the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for their negotiations that allegedly resulted in a “one-sided” and unconstitutional draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

In a 34-page complaint filed Thursday before a city prosecutor at the Manila City Hall, Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza and Abakada party-list Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz said the respondents should be held liable for treason and inciting to sedition for executing the Framework Agreement aimed at aiding the Bangsamoro “carve out its own state, which is intended to exist beyond the control and jurisdiction of the Republic of the Philippines.”

“The acts of the Respondents, in executing the Framework Agreement and in proposing the BBL, also effectively aided the MILF armed forces to successfully assert their existence as a separate and independent state. Therefore, the Respondents must be held liable for the crime of treason,” the lawmakers said.

Among those named respondents in the complaints were presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles, government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel Ferrer and her counterpart from the MILF, Mohagher Iqbal.

Aside from Deles and Ferrer, also charged were Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, former chair of the government peace panel, and 20 other respondents.

The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in December 2012 outlines the general features of the political settlement reached by the Philippine government and the MILF to end the decades-long armed conflict between the two parties in Mindanao.

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which was signed last year, incorporates the FAB and other agreements between the Philippine and MILF, and is the basis for the proposed BBL now pending in Congress.

Unconstitutional provisions

According to the complainants, the FAB and proposed BBL, as negotiated and drafted by the respondents, outline the framework of the Bangsamoro as an independent state.

“The provisions of the proposed BBL are deliberately made to deviate from the Constitution in order to allow the MILF armed groups to achieve independence and sovereignty in a Bangsamoro state,” they said.

Furthermore, the complainants argued that the envisioned Bangsamoro government will become a “political entity equal to or greater that the government of the Republic of the Philippines” if the BBL becomes a law because of the powers, which the government peace panel allegedly agreed to give to the MILF.

Among the unconstitutional provisions which the petitioners said were deliberately included in the measure were those authorizing the Bangsamoro government to impose various taxes. The petitioners argued that this will instigate the formation of a sovereign state with taxing powers that conflict with the authority exercised by the national government.

In addition, the complainants said the BBL promotes the appointment of Bangsamoro inhabitants to certain positions in the national goverment, thereby curtailing the President’s power to appoint any person which he or she deems to be fit and qualified.

The Bangsamoro bill, now called the proposed Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, is set to be introduced to the plenary at the House of Representatives next week, after hurdling the committees on appropriations, and ways and means. It was approved by a vote of 50-17 with one abstention by the House ad hoc panel last May 20.

Blatant disregard

For the lawmakers and their co-petitioners, the proposed BBL clearly promotes secession and will encourage the still undefined inhabitants of the new political entity “to make continuing demands for independence and self-determination.”

They said it is apparent that the government peace panel implemented the FAB and CAB despite not being ratified by the Senate even though these agreements should be considered treaties.

The complainants described the government peace panel’s “blatant disregard” of the Senate, as well as the Philippine Constitution, in drafting the agreements with the MILF and the BBL, as acts of sedition or inciting to commit sedition.

“By enabling the MILF to continue to exist and develop as a belligerent armed force, all the Respondents in effect commit or propose to commit treason,” they said.

Under the Revised Penal Code, treason is punishable by reclusion perpetua or imprisonment ranging from 20 years and 1 day to 40 years, or death. Those convicted of the offense will also be fined P100,000. —NB/KBK, GMA News