Tag: Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao

Armed conflict, constitutional law, international law, media law, The News Media, The President

An end to War. The Bangsamoro peace pact. Civil liberties. The Cybercrime Law.

    War, portents of war, and breakthroughs in war,  are always elements of news — ask any news editor. Uncharacteristically, Malacañang not only released information  but announced the Bangsamoro “framework agreement” in a highly publicized press con, on a slow news day, a full week ahead of its signing.   They could not have chosen a better element of news — war ranks way up there in any editor’s book. And so, Malacañang knows, it thinks, this would outrank any news  story or discussion on the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

     When they were “out-of-power”,  in 2008, the Liberal Party questioned the constitutionality of the initial Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the MILF, which provided for a future comprehensive peace pact, hammered out by Gloria’s government. They  found enough adherents in the Supreme Court: By a narrow vote of  8 to 7, the Supreme Court struck down the peace agreement as “unconstitutional” – betraying everybody’s  ignorance that negotiated political settlements are always outside the legal frameworks of the State-parties . Now that they are in power, they forged a “framework agreement” honoring a “Basic Law” for the Bangsamoro.   Good. Finally.   I’m glad that potentially there will now be a negotiated political settlement of the armed conflict in Mindanao – the Liberal Party delayed it by four years on the argument that the proposed “Bangsamoro Juridical Entity” mentioned in the 2008 MOA required Charter Change. They, and everyone else of course, were not willing to grant that to Gloria (Cha-cha under Gloria – no way).

      Don’t look at me, I’ve  been consistently in favor of negotiated political settlements over war,  regardless of who were in power (look at the history of this blog and previous blog posts). But look at them. It took a maelstrom of a social media frenzy over the Cybercrime Law,  for an advanced announcement of a peace agreement to be made,  and to go on headlong with this.

     An end to war — civil liberties. Choose.

Election law & election campaigns

(Updated) Postponing the ARMM elections is like…..

        Photo by Mike Gonzales in www.vistapinas.com . Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License of the photographer and the site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (UPDATED: i moved your sked by one day because the House Speaker scheduled the caucus only on Tuesday. )

            Postponing the ARMM elections scheduled on August 11  is like…  working  in quick-drying cement, wading in it and building a Parthenon-like Manila Film Palace in 14 days, (or maybe un-building). You work in a rush on a prayer  and see if you don’t get buried alive in plaster and stone.  Wait! It isn’t 14 days.  It’s eleven days, that’s the number of days you have in order to pass the law postponing the August 11 ARMM elections. Why eleven days? There’s a  requirement of publication!  before laws take effect, have you forgotten, do you have lawyers?

      It takes a law to postpone the ARMM elections. Congress opens on SONA day July 28. There’s going to be no other activity on SONA day,  in both Houses (to be convened as one) except preening before the cameras in jusi and ternos.

 

       So, legislative work effectively starts Tuesday July 29. Since the ARMM elections take place August 11, the law postponing it has to be published  in full in the newspapers not on the day of the elections but before that day or at the latest  August 10. While the Civil Code as amended says that laws take effect 15 days after publication, there’s a clause there that says “unless otherwise provided” , which clause was held in Tañada vs. Tuvera and other cases as referring to the date of effectivity.

       Since publication is an element of due process (as held in said cases), the public should be given reasonable opportunity  to read. Which probably means it should be published at the latest a day before, even if the law provides it shall take effect immediately upon publication. People should be given time to read it. Since it has to come out August 10, the press work for it should be August 9, which means you should give the law in full as signed in Malacañang to the newspapers by 2pm August 9 (ads have to be given to newspapers at 2pm or earlier to make it). That means the  President should sign the law in the morning of August 9.

      So i made you a schedule for quick-drying cement;  i worked  it backwards because you have a target date. Here’s how:

     July 29 – House caucus as called for and scheduled by the House Speaker

     July 30 — Sponsorship speeches, House and Senate, referral to committees, House and Senate

    There are at least three committees concerned with the ARMM elections.

     July 31 – House Committee One and Senate Committee One: Finish your hearings and deliberations. Start and finish on Day One.

    August 1 – House Committee Two and Senate Committee Two: Finish your hearings and deliberations. Same: Start and finish in 24 hours.

   August 2  — House Committee Three and Senate Committee Three: Finish your hearings and deliberations. Start and finish one day.

        August 3-4 – Finished or unfinished, pass your papers. House committees and Senate committees: write out your reports. Route them for signatures. Committee members: sign them right away.

        August 5 – “Report out” committee reports in the House and Senate.

        August 6 – Second reading of proposed bill, both houses. Make senators  quickly jump the hoops by not raising any questions, any clarification, any points of order, any objections, any call for quorum, no filibustering allowed.

     In record-time, finish second reading in one day.

     August 7 – Third reading, both houses

      August 8 – Bi-cam conference. Quickly.

      August 9 – Signing, morning. Press time 2pm

       August 10 – Day of publication. You made it!

        That’s your sked. Got it?

         The ARMM elections is the pilot project for computerization of elections in the country, ushering us, half a century late, out of blackboard chalk, Manila paper, ballot box snatching, burning of schoolhouses, burning of schoolteachers alive, and disappearing election returns; it will not solve everything but it will solve at least those i enumerated. Stopping it now, in eleven days, is like stopping the institution of fundamental electoral reforms for the 2010 elections, i.e., computerization for the 2010 elections. If any. If eynee. Or maybe that’s the idea. Of course, for those who don’t believe in elections, that’s a cinch.