Ex-Rep. Mastura wants CAB-compliant BEC in BARMM, files petition in intervention in SC

MANILA – Former Maguindanao Congressman and principal author of Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Act, lawyher Michael O. Mastura, filed a Petition-In-Intervention, on Thursday, before the Supreme Court to declare certain provisions of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC) or Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 35 unconstitutional for violating the Constitutional provision that “No votes cast in favor of a political party, organization or coalition shall be valid, except for those registered under the party-list system as provided in this Constitution," which party-list requirement is contained in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). 

Mastura is also a former member of the peace negotiating panel of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and former senior legal adviser of the MILF.  The MILF now leads the Bangsamoro Transition Authority of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Mastura in his Petition-In-Intervention cited the Annex on Power Sharing dated December 8, 2013, Part Two on Governance Structure, of the CAB, which reads as follows:

“3.  The Bangsamoro Assembly will be composed of at least 50 members whose district, party-list, reserved seats, and sectoral constituencies shall be provided in the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The Bangsamoro Basic Law shall provide for the term of office and the manner of selection of sectoral representatives, party-list and reserved seats.  The Bangsamoro Basic Law shall provide the parameters for the assembly to reconstitute its districts.”

Mastura’s Petition-In-Intervention is in relation to the main case of Atty. Dimnatang Pansar, Abdul Rashid Balindong, Shariefuddin Lucman, Aleem Alibasher Abdullatif, Jamil Faisal Adiong, Rafsanjani Pendatun Ali, Mohajeran Balayman, Najia Pescadera, Sharif Jul Asiri Abirin, Abdul Muhaimin Abubakar, Mohammad Salmann Sakili, Sarib Hataman, Harisul Samanul, Sukarno Asri, and Mohammad Yusof Tidal vs. Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and Hon. Ahod Balawag Ebrahim in his capacity as Interim Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) filed on June 14, 2023 before the Supreme Court that seeks to declare the BEC unconstitutional, particularly in relation to its restrictive provisions on registration of political parties requiring at least 10,000 membership and the high voting threshold for political parties to be entitled to a seat in the party representation system of the BARMM, wherein similar to the Party-List system political parties are voted upon instead of individual candidates for Members of the Bangsamoro parliament.

“My objective in filing this intervention is to highlight that the restrictive BEC provisions for the registration and participation of regional political parties defeats the purpose of a multiparty system that is free and open.  The only way that we can provide for the liberal formation and participation of regional political parties in the BARMM is if we go back to the CAB, wherein the non-restrictive and Constitutional party registration requirements under the Party-List System Act, is envisioned,” Mastura said in a statement.

Mastura added that if the restrictive BEC provisions on party registration is declared unconstitutional the default party registration system in the Party-List System Act or the general provisions on party registration of the Omnibus Election Code can be applied.  His Petition-In-Intervention argued that the formation and registration of political parties is part of the fundamental right to freedom of association in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution. He quoted Chief Justice Enrique Fernando on the significance of political parties under the right of freedom of association, to wit:

“In a sense, however, the stress on this freedom of association should be on its political significance. If such a right were non-existent then the likelihood of a one-party government is more than a possibility. Authoritarianism may become unavoidable. Political opposition will simply cease to exist; minority groups may be outlawed, constitutional democracy as intended by the Constitution may well become a thing of the past. Political parties which, as is originally the case, assume the role alternately of being in the majority or in the minority as the will of the electorate dictates, will lose their constitutional protection. It is undeniable therefore, that the utmost scope should be afforded this freedom of association.”