Bangsamoro gov't asks SC to re-include Sulu to BARMM

The Bangsamoro Government on Monday announced that it has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to re-include the Sulu province to the Bangsamoro Region.

According to the Bangsamoro government, it filed its motion for leave to intervene to be a party to the case and to admit the attached motion for partial reconsideration last Tuesday, October 1 through the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office (BAGO).

“When the Court agrees with you that you are a party that is worthy to take part in the case, you can be allowed to file your succeeding court documents or pleadings,” BAGO Officer-in-Charge Atty. Mohammad Al-Amin Julkipli said in a statement.

This came after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, but also declared Sulu is not part of the region.

The high court said the decision is “immediately executory.”

This was noted by Julkipli, who said that the SC did not say that it was “final and executory.”

“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,” he said.

“As for us, that is already a signal that we can just continue with the status quo,” he stated,” he added.

In 2018, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan II questioned before the SC the legality of the BOL, arguing that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) cannot be abolished without amending the 1987 Constitution.

Julkipli said that BARMM was never a party to the case as it was not yet constituted when the case was filed in 2018.

He said BARMM Was also not formally impleaded when the trial was ongoing.

Meanwhile, Julkipli said that BARMM was cautiously optimistic. He said that their motions were born out of the government’s desire to defend the integrity of its territory.

“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,” he said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News