MANILA - A group of constitution experts and framers has asked the Supreme Court to void the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which they believe is unconstitutional.
In its petition, the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) also asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the implementation of the law.
The law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last July, aims to grant greater autonomy to the Bangsamoro in Mindanao.
Philconsa insists that the Bangsamoro law violates constitutional provisions that allow only one organic act to establish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Under the BOL, the same ARMM areas will still be part of the new region, while Cotabato City, Isabela City, 6 Lanao del Norte towns and 39 North Cotabato provinces may opt to be included.
The law also promises a fair sharing of resources, a block grant from the national government, and an overall stronger autonomy in Muslim Mindanao, among others.
A plebiscite on the law has been scheduled on two separate dates next year.
On January 21, 2019, residents of the ARMM, Isabela City in Basilan, and Cotabato City are scheduled to vote on the BOL.
Meanwhile, those in Lanao del Norte, the towns of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit, and Pigkawayan, and all areas contiguous to the Bangsamoro core may vote on February 6, 2019.
Last October, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan II also filed a petition against the BOL, citing the same arguments. The Supreme Court en banc already asked the government to comment on the petition.
--report from Dexter Ganibe, ABS-CBN News
Bangsamoro, Mindanao, BOL, Rodrigo Duterte, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, ARMM, Bangsamoro Organic Law