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Bangsamoro government asks SC to reconsider Sulu's exclusion from BARMM

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><span data-teams="true" id="isPasted"><span dir="ltr"></span></span></div><p>QUEZON CITY – The Bangsamoro Government filed twin motions before the Supreme Court to bring back Sulu province to the Bangsamoro region.</p><p>The Bangsamoro Attorney General&#x27;s Office filed last Tuesday a motion for leave to intervene and to admit the attached motion for partial reconsideration, praying to be a party to the case involving the exclusion of Sulu province. </p><p>A motion for leave to intervene is a way to request the high court&#x27;s permission for a party to be part of a case, despite it not originally being involved in the proceeding. </p><p>&quot;For us in the BARMM, there is a special circumstance because when this case was filed in 2018, the BARMM was not yet constituted. When it was already pending in the Court, the BARMM, even though it has already been constituted, was not formally impleaded; meaning, throughout the lightlife of the case, the autonomous region itself was never a party,&quot; BAGO Officer-in-Charge Atty. Mohammad Al-Amin Julkipli said in a statement. </p><p>In an SC decision last month, the high court ruled that Sulu province should be excluded from BARMM due to its rejection of the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in 2019. In the same decision, the SC upheld the constitutionality of the BOL.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/10/1/lawyer-asks-sc-to-reconsider-decision-excluding-sulu-from-bangsamoro-1751">Lawyer asks SC to reconsider decision excluding Sulu from Bangsamoro</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/9/9/sc-sulu-province-not-part-of-bangsamoro-autonomous-region-1654">SC: Sulu Province not part of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region</a> </div><p>Aside from the twin motions, the Bangsamoro government also included a prayer for the SC to reconsider its decision excluding Sulu from BARMM. </p><p>The Bangsamoro lawyer said the SC decision mentioned it is &quot;immediately executory&quot; and not &quot;final and executory,&quot; paving the way for legal remedies. </p><p>&quot;In the event that the Court reverses its ruling, deciding that Sulu’s inclusion is not unconstitutional, meaning it’s perfectly legal, that only means that the province does not need to be excluded from the autonomous region. As for us, that is already a signal that we can just continue with the status quo,&quot; Atty. Julkipli said. </p><p>The Bangsamoro lawyer said the BARMM government is cautiously optimistic and their legal moves are born by their desire to defend the integrity of its regional territory. </p><p>&quot;More importantly, as the Chief Minister emphasized, it is because the province of Sulu is very fundamental to the cause of the Bangsamoro… and that it is part and parcel of the Bangsamoro identity with a very important role to play in our continuous struggle for our autonomy and development as one people,&quot; he said. </p><p>In 2018, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan II challenged the legality of the BOL, saying the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) cannot be dissolved without amending the 1987 Constitution. </p><p>In an interview on Wednesday, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim said they want Sulu to be re-included in the region. </p><p>&quot;The BARMM already filed a motion in the Supreme Court to allow us to intervene. Because we were not impleaded formally, parang hindi kami concerned. So hindi nila kami inaallow na magintervene. But we already requested. In fact, we are in touch with the Supreme Court hierarchy na i-allow nila kami mag-intervene, mag-file ng motion for reconsideration or kung ano man,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;Yung mga tao, they were very sad about it. Yung pag declare na magoout sila, marami daw kapatid natin sa Sulu na nag-iyakan dahil doon sa kwan. Kaya nga sabi ko, we will try to, we are taking this up with the IGRB and we are hoping na maresolve namin,&quot; he said. </p><p>The exclusion of Sulu also leaves seven parliamentary seats hanging in the balance. </p><p>Among the suggestions floated were to push through with the parliamentary elections, leaving the seats vacant and redistributing the seats to other provinces. </p><p>Ebrahim said they are working with the inter-governmental body to resolve the issue. </p><p>&quot;We have already filed this with the IGRB [Inter-governmental relations body], kasama sa agenda nila ang tungkol sa Sulu. So ang suggestion nila [Comelec], i-spread nalang ninyo muna sa mga ibang provinces yung pito na seat para mapagbotohan. So we are working out kung papaano nga ito gagawin, i-spread out sa ibang provinces,&quot; he explained. </p><p>When asked if he has already asked parliament to act on possible seat reallocation, Ebrahim said he wants finality from the SC and IGRB. </p><p>&quot;Ang problema namin ngayon is yung time constraint. Kasi alam niyo sa proseso sa parliament din, medyo matagal. Matagal yan eh para magkaroon ng first reading, second reading, third reading so yun ang problema,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;Siguro with the, in collaboration with the national government, kung ano ang mapagkasunduan, temporary lang naman yun eh. Because the final thing is about Sulu. So kung maallocate yung mga seats sa ibang provinces, it is temporary. Pagka nabalik na yung Sulu, then babalik din yung seat na yun sa Sulu. Siguro we will do it yung practical,&quot; Ebrahim explained. </p><p>The Commission on Elections and the Bangsamoro government have both said the parliamentary elections will push through despite the situation with Sulu province. </p><p>The first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously with the national and local elections on May 12, 2025.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/10/1/official-assures-barmm-elections-to-be-inclusive-1651">Official assures BARMM elections to be inclusive</a> </div><p>The filing of certificates of candidacy for the parliamentary elections is November 4 to 9.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ymUlPXF8v8M?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Bangsamoro Government filed twin motions before the Supreme Court to bring back Sulu province to the Bangsamoro region.</p>

The Bangsamoro Government filed twin motions before the Supreme Court to bring back Sulu province to the Bangsamoro region.