The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of Republic Act 11054, the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), but declared that Sulu is not part of the region after the province rejected the law’s ratification.

In a unanimous decision announced in a press conference yesterday, the SC partially granted the petition challenging Sulu’s inclusion in BARMM, but denied challenges to other aspects of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

The decision is immediately executable, according to SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae L. Ting. The Bangsamoro Organic Law, enacted on 27 July 2018, established the BARMM as a political entity and its corresponding basic governmental structure.

On 21 January 2019, a plebiscite was conducted in areas of the then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Isabela City in Basilan, and Cotabato City. Another plebiscite was held on 6 February 2019 in Lanao del Norte, municipalities in North Cotabato, and other areas that petitioned for voluntary inclusion.

The majority of the ARMM ratified the law in those plebiscites, except for Sulu. Despite this, Sulu was included in the BARMM, prompting the province to file the SC petition challenging the law.

The SC ruled that the Bangsamoro Organic Law is constitutional because it does not make BARMM a separate state from the Philippines. It said the law does not grant BARMM the power to enter into relations with other states or grant it sovereignty. Matters of national defense and security, citizenship, foreign policy, and foreign trade remain under the national government, it added.

BARMM’s autonomy is limited to its internal governance and the greater autonomy given to the region does not imply separation from the national government, the SC said.

The Court also upheld the parliamentary form of the Bangsamoro government. An autonomous region is not prohibited from prescribing a form of government that differs from the national government, so long as it upholds democratic principles.

The Bangsamoro government is democratic, with members of the Parliament elected by the people as representatives. The Bangsamoro Parliament elects a chief minister who exercises the executive powers of the Bangsamoro government.