Policy Analysis Output

Saint Louis University

Baguio City, Philippines 2600
School of Humanities
Department of Political and Social Sciences
A.Y. 2015-2016

sa ilalim ng nag-iisang Bangsamoro para sa mga Moro..

Policy Analysis on the Socio-Political

Impacts of the Proposed BANGSAMORO
BASIC LAW

Submitted by:
Mr. Emmanuel J. Bacud, BA Political Science IV
I.D. No.: 2131112
School of Humanities
11:30-12:30 TTHS (GD 212)

Submitted to:
Dr. Mary Grace Carrido-Baywong
Faculty-in-charge
Political Science 34: Current Issues, Problems and Thrusts in the Philippines
Department of Political and Social Sciences

Date of Submission: March 22, 2016

Policy Analysis Output

I.) PRELIMINARY NOTIONS ABOUT THE BANGSAMORO LAW AND THE BANGSAMORO
REGION
A.) Policy Description
The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), signed on 27 March 2014, signaled the
end of the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao that has posed major setbacks to the full progress
and development of the country. The negotiated political settlement outlined the mechanisms, processes,
and modalities through which the parties (the Government and the Mindanao People) aim to establish
and entrench a regime of peace, development, social justice, and the rule of law in the conflict-ridden
areas and the communities of Southern Philippines. --Explanatory Note of House Bill 4994 series of
2014.
The establishment of Bangsamoro Region and the political entity of Bangsamoro people as
stipulated in the House Bill Number 4994 is considered to be a Philippine major policy when it is
enacted. In accordance to the proposed law, the Bangsamoro refers to the autonomous political entity
replacing the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as signified by Republic Act 6734
and Republic Act 9054). The proposed core territories that will comprise the Bangsamoro region include
the entire ARMM region, Cotabato City and Isabela City, 6 Municipalities of Lanao del Norte, and
39 barangays within the 6 Municipalities of North Cotabato. Regarding its maritime domain, the
Bangsamoro Waters as indicated in the CAB shall extend up to 22.24 kilometers (12 nautical miles)
from the low-water mark of the coast that are part of the Bangsamoro territory. The Bangsamoro Waters
shall be part of the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro political entity. The Bangsamoro Region is
prognosticated to have aglita ministerial form of government since this type of government is
conventional to for the Mindanao people and simultaneously proactive with the constitutional provision
Article X of Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution stating that the organic act shall define the basic
structure of government for the region consisting of executive department and legislative assembly, both
of which shall be elective and representative of the constituent political units. In a ministerial form of
government, the citizens will elect the representatives in the legislative assembly and this assembly will
now choose its chief minister to serve as the leader of the assembly and to preside in all legislative
sessions. Hence, the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law provides for a Bangsamoro government a
parliamentary democratic political system.
The socio-political development involve in the enactment of Bangsamoro Law has been aided by
normalization. Normalization denotes a sustainable process whereby communities can achieve their
desired quality of life that includes the pursuit of sustainable livelihood and political participation
within a peaceful deliberative society. Normalization also aims to ensure human security in the
Bangsamoro (Annex on Normalization of Bangsamoro, 2014 signed by Ferrer, Iqbal and Mohamed).
The Normalization process in the Bangsamoro comprises portentous phases such as 1.) Policing on
Bangsamoro, 2.) Establishing transitional components of Normalization, 3.) Decommissioning,
4.) Redeployment of AFP, 5.) UXOs (unexploded ordinance detection) and Landmines, 6.)
Disbanding Private Armed Groups, 7.) Socio-Economic Development Program, 8.) Transitional
Justice and Reconciliation,
9.) Resource Mobilization and 10.) Confidence-Building Measures.
These 10 important phases of Normalization in the Bangsamoro region can be termed as the transitional
policies of CAB.
Therefore, the discussion of the article emphatically iterates the policy analysis on the
normalization process as implemented by the government of the Philippines in relation to the passage of
the law.

Policy Analysis Output

B.) Historical Model About the Development of the Policy:

The illustrated diagram purports a historical approach in pondering the evolution of the proposed
BBL and the Bangsamoro region. As implied, the diagram started highlighting the 1979 Tripoli
Agreement under the Marcos Administration in which several provinces in Mindanao including
Palawan had been granted such autonomy by the central government to achieve autarky. Then, after the
1986 EDSA PEOPLE POWER, the Cory Aquinos Administration granted the creation of the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to recognize and empower the role of the Islamic community
in nation-building and to recognize the role of Islamic political culture concentrated in the area in local
governance. In addition, this law (RA 6734) has been amended by the RA 9054 of 2001 to grant more
political powers in the ARMM region.
However, there is an emerging demand of genuine autonomy as perceived the Mindanao
community; thus, the creation of Bangsamoro Region became a premier political demand. This political
concern is vehemently addressed through the formulation of House Bill No. 4994 or the Bangsamoro
Basic Law under Pres. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino, III.
C.) Problems and Issues:
1.) ON THE CONTENT OF THE LAW: THE BASIC LAW OF BANGSAMORO
a.) Sovereignty. The term sovereignty denotes supreme dominion, authority, ultimate
jurisdiction or rule (De Leon & De Leon, 2011). A sovereign state such as the Philippines is a state that
possesses an independent existence, being complete in itself. While the Philippines remains a sovereign

Policy Analysis Output

state, the changes sought by the BBL conspire to create a part-sovereign state or a sub-state, meaning
a political community in which part of the powers of external sovereignty are exercised by the home
government, and part are vested in or controlled by some other political body or bodies. Thus creating
what today we usually call a sub-state, the BBL creates an entire state within the Philippine state. When
the BBL provides for certain provisions that collide with the Constitution, the effect is for the BBL to
derogate the powers of sovereignty of the people. In providing for three different kinds of power
reserved, concurrent, and exclusive the BBL allows the Bangsamoro government the power to
diminish national sovereignty. When the BBL provides for concurrent powers, it means that the
Bangsamoro government shares power with the national government. When the BBL provides for
exclusive powers, it means that the Bangsamoro on occasion even exercises power independently of the
national government.
b.) Precursor to the Rise of an Associative State. The BBL seeks to fecundate what it calls an
asymmetrical political relationship between the national government and the Bangsamoro
Government. The BBL seeks to establish a political entity so far unknown in the rest of constitutional
democracies. While the Constitution takes care to define the limits of local autonomy, the BBL is vested
with powers far beyond constitutional limits. The BBL seeks also to establish limitations to the powers
of Congress. The Congress will be entitled to reserved powers, but the Bangsamoro would be
excluded from the laws passed by Congress with respect to autonomous regions. Even if the
Congress uses its concurrent powers under the BBL, it would be severely limited by the concept of
exclusive powers that will be exercised by the Bangsamoro Parliament. One distinctive example is the
interpretation of the general welfare clause which, when exercised by the Bangsamoro Parliament,
will almost certainly collide with the power exercised by the Congress. Thus, the Bangsamoro
Parliament would become not subordinate, but equal to, the Congress.
In accessing the BBL, the results would be to conduct affairs with the national government on a
status of co-equality. While the Bangsamoro Parliament will be operating as a mere political subdivision
of the national government, yet the Bangsamoro Parliament could issue its own laws which could have
the same binding national character as congressional enactments. This will define that Bangsamoro
region is already a separate state with independent jurisdiction.
2.) ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAW: THE NORMALIZATION PROCESS
a.) Decommissioning Mechanism. The decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation
Fronts combatants and weapons will not be pursued without the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic
Law (BBL) according to Mohagher Iqbal as the government divulged last February 1, 2016. However,
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. welcomed the statement
of MILFs chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal that the non-passage of the BBL was not the end of the
world for the MILF and that they would continue to pursue a peace settlement.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said the political-legal track centered on
the passage of the BBL is at the heart of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)
signed by the government and the MILF on March 27, 2014, concluding 17 years of peace negotiations.
The BBL is the legal translation of CAB. If enacted, the BBL will be the legal basis for the creation of
an autonomous Bangsamoro region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM). According to her, there is no full implementation of the CAB, specifically no further
decommissioning beyond the first batch of 145 (MILF combatants), until the law is passed.

Policy Analysis Output

The CAB stipulates that 30 percent of MILF combatants and weapons will be
decommissioned upon the passage of the BBL, to be followed by another 35 percent after the
plebiscite and the appointment of members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority. The remaining 35
percent will be decommissioned once the Bangsamoro government is established and its leaders are duly
elected. The MILF earlier said they agreed to the decommissioning despite the delay in the passage of
BBL to show its sincerity and commitment to the peace process. While the decommissioning and BBL
passage are two different processes, Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong explained the laying down of arms and
integration of MILF combatants into society were inexorably tied to the progress of the BBL in
Congress. Meanwhile, Senate President Franklin Drilon refused to treat the BBL as a dead bill
even though Congress would not be able to approve this before adjournment of the 16th Congress
on June 10, 2016 (Calica, 2016). Therefore, the normalization process particularly the
decommissioning of weapons cannot be easily stabilize because of the pending action pertaining to
the implementation of the proposed law.
II.) POLICY ANALYSIS: AN INTEGRATED I.S.O.-SWOT APPROACH
The policy analysis revolves on the aspect of normalization process related to the implementation
of Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The policy analysis utilized I.S.O. And
SWOT analysis to ponder the aspects of this aforementioned process.
A.) SWOT Analysis on the NORMALIZATION PROCESS
Table 1: SWOT Analysis and Facts of the NORMALIZATION Process
S (Strength)
-Diminishing Insurgency Groups

W (Weakness)
-Factionalism of the Muslim Community

-Promoting effective fiscal and administrative -Non-adherence of some areas

decentralization according to Philippine mandated
laws
-Normalization process has no strict monitoring in
terms of confiscating unregistered guns and
-Strategizing police force in advancing local and ammunition and landmines
national security
-Normalization Process is a bureaucratic
-Ameliorating livelihood programs for Southern elite-approach; the common citizens to be affected
Mindanao through a wide-ranged economic are not fully involved in reaching a consensus
networks
prior to the signing of CAB.
-Peace-Building and Peace-Keeping will be highly -There is no definitive criteria in estimating the
feasible through the effort of pioneering parties
probable budget for the normalization as of 2016
National Budget amounting to at least Php 2.6 T
O (Opportunity)
T (Threat)
-Enhancement of Sociocultural ties
-The penetration of international radical
actor-ISIS
-Maximization of Mindanao Labor Force
-The Thrusts/ Political Foci of 2016
-Promotion of Sustainable Development through Administration may varied.
NGU-LGU Administrative Synergy

Policy Analysis Output

B.) I.S.O. Approach (Input-System-Output Approach)

According to the ISO approach, decommissioning as an effect of the political dialogue between GPH
and the MNLF with minor factions aimed to stabilize the peace process in the prognosticated region of
Bangsamoro. As analyzed before this policy was institutionalized, past official statistical data from 1977
to 2008 indicated that the communist movement had its peak in 1986 with a membership of 25,000. Its
membership started to decline in 1987 with a lowest membership recorded in 1995 with 6,020 followers.
It rose to 11,930 members in 2011. In 2012, the CNN membership started to decline again until it
reached a membership of 5,761 in 2008 (Banlaoi, 2013). The following table below substantiate this
statement.
Thus, to mitigate this situation and to
promote better security and peace among
citizens, the Government of the
Philippines
accommodates
the
perpetuating Muslim sentiments regarding
the creation of a political community
where can they exercise their beliefs and
norms.
As a governmental process, it can be
concluded that normalization process is a
serious commitment of both political
actors (Government + Muslim people)
toward peace, security and development!

Policy Analysis Output

III.) IDENTIFYING LINKAGES

The above illustration elucidates a network of linkages involve in the normalization policy as an
integral part of the CAB and the proposed BBL. As indicated, normalization policy must be strictly
monitored by the government-mandated agencies to reinforce peace-building process in Mindanao.
Furthermore, with this framework, the policy is forecast to transform a large number of the people in
Mindanao into more productive citizens of the state
IV.) POLICY RECOMMENDATION
As the current normalization policy of the government is concerned, it hereby recommended by the
writer of this article to:
Award merits or greater cash subsidy to be withdrawn form local government funds or reserve
funds to those cooperative citizens regarding the decommissioning process in the area in order to
boost coordination and stability.
Initiate livelihood projects to those former militant groups in order to attain sustainable living in
the community and to spearhead investments in the area
Intensify the presence of Philippine Military Forces by upgrading the facilities and increasing the
members through a better salary-grading so that the country will be effectively protected from the
penetration of global threats such as terrorist groups or insurgency as far as the normalization occurs
Regarding the formal enactment of the proposed law, the new administration must robustly
coordinate with the Congress through a joint Executive-Legislative Session to cogitate the
probable controversy of the law and to conduct a more rational legislation process

Policy Analysis Output

References
Articles and Books:
Banlaoi, R. (2013). Statistical Challenges in Peace and National Security Studies in the Philippines. 12th
National Convention on Statistics. EDSA-Shangrila, Mandaluyong City.
Barandian, E. (2002). Economic Costs of the Mindanao Conflict. Manila City.
Calica, A. (2016). MILF Decommissioning Wont Continue San BBL. The Philippine Star. February 02,
2016 (retrieved on March 14, 2016 at www.philstar.com)
De Leon, H. Sr. & De Leon, H. Jr. (2011). Textbook on the Philippine Constitution with Politics and
Governance. Rex Publishing House. Quezon City.
Philippine Senate-Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes (2015). Summary
Report of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The Senate of the Philippines Official Gazette
Brochures:
DSWD. (2012). Cost of War: The DSWD 2012 Year End Report. Manila.
OPAPP. (2016). Annex on Normalization and the Addendum on the Bangsamoro Waters and Zones
of Joint Cooperation
OPAPP. (2016). The GPH-MILF Peace Process Infrastructure. February 2016.
OPAPP. (2016). Why is the Bangsamoro Constitutional?.
For Official Manuscript of the Philippine Laws and Bills:
www.officialgazette.gov.ph/ RA 6734-ARMM Law of 1989 (retrieved on March 9, 2016)
www.officialgazette.gov.ph/ RA 9054-Expanded ARMM Law of 2001(retrieved on March 10, 2016)
www.chanrobleslibrary.com.ph/ 1979 Tripoli Agreement (retrieved on March 7, 2016)

Good leaders will fecundate good policies but it was in these good policies which will provide better
life for humanitys sake.
-E.J.B.

Policy Analysis Output

Saint Louis University

Baguio City, Philippines 2600
School of Humanities
Department of Political and Social Sciences
A.Y. 2015-2015

Policy Analysis on the SLU-DPSS

Research Extension Program
Institutionalization of Barangay Human
Rights Council for the Protection of
Women and Children
Submitted by:
Mr. Emmanuel J. Bacud, BA Political Science IV
I.D. No.: 2131112
School of Humanities
11:30-12:30 TTHS (GD 212)

Submitted to:
Dr. Mary Grace Carrido-Baywong
Faculty-in-charge/ SLU-DPSS Research Extension Program Coordinator
Political Science 34
Department of Political and Social Sciences

Date of Submission: March 17, 2016

Policy Analysis Output

10

I.) RATIONALE
To change a community, you have to have the knowledge changed.
-Dr. Mary Grace Baywong, SLU-DPSS
Institutionalization of the Barangay Human Rights Council for the Protection of Women and
Children is an official sponsored-Research Extension Program inoculated by Prof. Mary Grace C.
Baywong, PhD of Saint Louis University-Department of Political and Social Sciences in cooperation
with the Department of Business Laws and Taxation faculty of SLU-SABM. According to this extension
program, the target members of the extension program were the members of the Barangay Human
Rights Council and barangay residents in South Sanitary Camp, Baguio City. The research extension
program focused on the significant areas of empowerment among women in the barangay such as
economic empowerment, socio-cultural empowerment and familial-interpersonal empowerment.
II.) POLICY RECOMMENDATION
The research extension program spearheaded by the SLU-DPSS through the initiative of Dr. Grace C.
Baywong can me more improved, sensible and more beneficial for the Cordilleran Community through
the following recommendations:
A.) Collaborative-Synergistic Approach of Implementation
Collaborative-synergistic approach of implementation of this program would refer to a wider range
of agencies whether public or private that will be involved in the activity. For instance, SLU together
with the LGU-Baguio and neighboring municipalities in Benguet, private enterprises such as AVON
can sponsor this program benefiting more citizens of the Cordilleran Community. Moreover, the success
of this event can be also attributed to competent individuals who will take the lead of its implementation
and planning.
B.) Mitigating Citizens Apathy Through Dynamic and Life-Oriented Sessions with Incentives
As presented in the evaluation of the program, there were significant number of residents who were
apathetic regarding the community affair. Therefore, to mitigate this situation, it is hereby recommended
to re-orient the mode of presentations and make these activity more enthusiastic by showcasing of
talents (with cash incentives to motivate the trainees) or by inviting local artists to perform. This
mechanism is also an empowerment of Cordilleran Culture.
C.) Strategic Financing
Strategic Financing refers to a mechanism wherein a particular program should have sufficient
monetary allotment in an institution to be effectively implemented. Strategic financing means that the
pioneering institutions of a particular program must allocate a minimal percentage of its revenue; thus,
this will make the project feasible and satisfactory for the beneficiaries.
D.) Innovative Information Drive
Institutionalization of Barangay Human Rights Council can be more innovative if the barangay will
create an active account through the internet and encourage the citizens to be more participative in an
event.
E.) Advancing Feminist-Entrepreneurship
Women are believed to be partners of men in developing a community; therefore, women should be also
empowered economically by exposing them to a corporate world to effectively substantiate this social role.