Confused and outright unfavorable reaction

HOW THE AUTONOMY FOR MUSLIM MINDANAO STARTED – After a series of consultations and dialogues with the different sectors the past several months and bilateral meetings between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels, a framework agreement has been reached mainly designed to address the problems of the people in Muslim Mindanao. Foremost in the outline is the renaming of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to Bangsamoro land. Representatives of the government, MILF, some senior officials and lawmakers expressed high hopes for the new framework agreement to be fully implemented before the term of President Benigno Aquino III ends in 2016.
Well, let’s move a bit backward to have a background on how the ARMM Organic Act started. On July 13, 1989 both leaders of the legislative branches signed the autonomy bill for Muslim Mindanao, originally House Bill 22929, which was reconciled with Senate Bill 902 at the conference committee of Congress. Then on August 1, the bill was signed into law by President Corazon C. Aquino and became Republic Act 6734.
The autonomy act for Muslim Mindanao finally was presented in a plebiscite to 13 provinces and 9 cities on November 19 of the same year. Certain provisions of the Constitution declared that only those provinces and cities which vote for the Organic Act will become part of the autonomous region. The referendum was held in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Tawi-tawi, Sulu, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Maguindanao, Palawan, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Basilan and North Cotabato.
And the cities included in the plebiscite are Zamboanga, Puerto Prinsesa, Pagadian, Marawi, Iligan, General Santos, Dipolog, Dapitan and Cotabato. Hopes are high at that time in Congress that the majority of the areas will approve the Organic Act. Once it is approved, elections for the regional governor, vice governor and three representatives for the regional assembly from each congressional district will be held not later than 90 days after the referendum. A month later an Oversight Committee from the national government will supervise the transfer of properties and personnel.
The Act sets a maximum period of six years from the time the regional government is established for effecting complete transfer of all government agencies to the new regional government. In the rush to join the campaign for the autonomous region, Congress revised its legislative calendar to allow congressmen more time to inform their constituencies of the Organic Act.    However, after its passage in Congress on June 8, 1989 and was ratified in a plebiscite held November 19, only four provinces – Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi – approved the Act.
The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), then the ruling political party favored the Act at the outset. Senior party leaders said the LDP was obliged to take stand on the issue. They believed the establishment of the autonomous region would have national ramifications; the act largely the handiwork of the LDP-dominated House of Representatives. Although the LDP had taken an early pro-Organic Act stance, the members of the House from the affected areas were inclined to take individual positions on the issue.
Members of the House of Representatives crossed party positions to take stands that they felt reflected the sentiments of their constituencies. Initial reaction to the autonomous bill had ranged from confused to outright unfavorable in many areas. The final results in which only four provinces and not even one city approved the Organic Act have been given negative interpretations. Though in several occasions Congress leaders pointed out that the autonomous bill would serve to achieve greater autonomy for Muslim Mindanao and allow the region greater flexibility to address its interlocking problems in its own way. But it is rather unfortunate those 23 years after the ratification of the Organic Act for ARMM, the results proved otherwise. More on our subsequent column piece, folks!