3 provinces challenge BARMM governance code

COTABATO CITY—Three provincial governments in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have petitioned the Supreme Court to declare as “unconstitutional and invalid” the Bangsamoro Local Governance Code (BLGC), a landmark measure that attempts, among others, to curb political dynasties.

According to a news release of the BARMM Governors’ Caucus, the provincial governments of Sulu, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Sur filed the petition on Monday, in accordance with resolutions of their respective provincial legislatures.

Sulu was represented in the petition by Gov. Abdusakur Tan, Lanao del Sur by Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr., and Maguindanao del Sur by Gov. Bai Mariam Mangudadatu.

Joining them were the leagues of municipal mayors, councilors and barangay governments of the three provinces, represented in the suit by each bodies’ president.

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Tan, Adiong and Mangudadatu are convenors of the BARMM Governors’ Caucus that has evolved to be a counterforce to the current political dominance of the alliance of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the interim regional government.

The MNLF and MILF have signed peace pacts with the government, in 1996 and 2014, respectively. The peace deal with the MILF led to the creation of BARMM in 2019.

Their petition claims that the BLGC is riddled with provisions that violate the Constitution, the country’s Local Government Code and the Bangsamoro Organic Law, including the laws on disciplining elected officials.

They argued that any provision in the BLGC that diminishes the rights and privileges of local governments under the Local Government Code and other national laws, is invalid.

Adiong was cited in the news release as saying that the petition seeks “to clarify the boundaries of power of the national, regional and local governments in

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