CLEMENCIO MONTECILLO BASCAR - IS THE BBL ANOTHER CLASS STATUTE?

​Clemencio Montecillo Bascar was a former Professor and Vice President for Corporate Affairs of the Western Mindanao State University. He is a recepient of various local, regional, and national awards in songwriting, playwriting, poetry, and public service. Several of his poems had been published in international literary magazines and journals such as, Foliate Oak , BRICKrhetoric, About Place, Torrid Literature, Mused-theBellaOnline Lietrary Review, and The Voices Project. He had written and published by the Western Mindanao State University two books of poetry, namely; "Fragments of the Eucharist" and "Riots of Convictions." In the Philippines, some of his poems appeared in the such magazines as Women's, MOD, and Chick.  
At present, he writes a column in the Zamboanga Today daily newspaper and resides at 659 Gemini Street, Tumaga, Zamboanga City, Philippines. He is married to the former Miss Melinda Climaco dela Cruz and blest with three children, Jane, Lynnette, and Timothy James.   

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IS THE BBL ANOTHER CLASS STATUTE?
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"Class legislation refers to legislation that applies to certain persons or class of persons, either natural or artificial, or to a certain districts of territory or state." Defintion by USLEGAL.COM.
 
 No matter how vigorous and passsionate proponents push for the approval of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) as a sub-political entity,  it does not change the Malay definition of the word  "bangsa" as a "state"or "nation". For as long as the title of this draft bill is retained, only those who do not know the generally accepted  definition of this Malay word in English will be convinced that the "Bangsamoro" is not a state, but just a local government unit under the Republic of the Philippines.
"Bangsamoro", which is a recently-coined  term by all indications, has not yet been clearly defined and understood by the general public, is like the word "autonomy" which  I assumed, had been mistaken to mean by previous Congresses as equivalent to the concept of delegation of political authority and decentralization of function down to local government units such as  province,  city, and municipality. As commonly defined by all major dictionaries the term autonomy is  "self-rule, independence, and self-government." Congress created the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which is not really autonomous, self-governing, or independent but just a sub-political entity or a local government unit under the general control and supervision by the central government although given broader authority devolution and functional decentralization.  I could be wrong, but in my layman's point of view, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is patently a class legislation for it was created exclusively for a group of inhabitants professing the Islam faith to the exclusion of other religious denominations and Lumads or indigenous inhabitants of Mindanao and Sulu. To my mind, it   is even violative of the doctrine of the separtation of church and state "which is the philosopic concept for defining the political distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state."
No matter how convincingly eloquent and aspirationally instense will be the defense of the proponents for  this proposed  law, it will not be able to completely eliminate the huge public suspicion that because almost all the peace documents (FAB, CAB and all their annexes ) were  drafted, revised, finalized in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, these  agreements are heavily if not entirely influenced by the cultural climate and political ideology of Malaysia. The BBL ,  is conclusively to a large measure, a product of Malaysia's diplomatic facilitation and intervention. In the name of fairness and proper gesture of giving due credit to whom it is due, Malaysia incontestably more than deserves such accolade.
While we respect fully the belief or assertion that the title is not as important as  its content or substance, in this particular case, it is central, imperative, and essential  not only because the general population of the Philippines and even in the areas proposed to be under this Bangsamoro  Juridical Entity (BJE) obviosly do not possess operational and comprehensive understanding and familarity of the term, but also because it requires  consistency, adherence, compliance, and conformity  to the constitutional prohibition of establishing a separate political entity within the national integrity of this Republic.  So whether Congress agrees with my opinion or not, the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL),  by its very title already contravenes the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
Rightfully and logically, the first official action of Congress on  this proposed legislation should have been to change its title so as not to  violate or contradict the Basic Law of the our  land and will not be construed as another class legislation coming within the following legal defintions.
"Class legislation refers to legislation that applies to certain persons, either natural or artificial, or to certain districts of territory or state."- Source: US Legal Definition (US Legal.Com)."
"Class legislation "is a term applied to statutory enactments which divide the people or subjects of legislation into classes, with reference either to the grant of privileges or imposition of burdens upon an arbitrary, unjust or invidious principle of division, or which through the principle of division maybe sound and justifiable, make arbitrary discriminations between these persons or things coming within the same class."- Source: Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary, 2nd Edition.
It should be made fully understood by all members of Congress that Bangsamoro is just a proposed national identity of the new political entity envisioned to replace the  existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and not one of the officially listed authentic native ethno-linguistic or indigenous tribes in Mindanao and Sulu or anywhere else in the Philippine archipelago.  It was initially used as the  first word of the name of a revolutionary organization  called Bangsa Moro Liberation Organization (BMLO) whose  organization is credited to then  Congressman  Rashid Lucman in 1970. It is therefore, inaccurate or incorrect to say that the Bangsamoro is one among the native or indigenous peoples in Mindanao and Sulu. This fact is confirmed  on pages 151 to 152 of the book entitled, "Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny"  by Salah Jubair a highly respected Muslim author:
"In 1970,  Cong. Rashid Lucman organized the Bangsa Moro Liberation Front  (BMLO). It was designed to function as an umbrella organization under and from  which all other liberation  forces must radiate.
In 1984, it was renamed Bangsa Muslimin Islamic Liberation Organization (BMLO). It frowned upon the use of the term Moro , which was given by the enemies of Islam, and  in its stead Muslimin was chosen."
Jubair also stated in his book I cited above, that before the coming of the Spaniards there was no Moro nation to speak of at that time because the word Moro was just a monicker used by the Conquistadores to refer to all the natives including those who already embraced the Islam faith. In this connection, may I quote his exact words on page 13 of the same reference:
"All monickers assigned to the natives, Indio, Moro, and Filipino were given by the Spaniards. History should credit them for giving us all these names, either out of hatred, or by reasons of similarities, or by force of circumstances, or by all of the above."
Originally, Bangsa was separately written from Moro leading us to assume or postulate that the fusion of the two words  Bangsa and Moro  to form Bangsamoro, (please correct me if I am wrong) must have been also the brainchild of a neologist or protologist which was eventually adopted by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as the name of the  new political entity now known as the Bangsamoro  Juridical Entity  (BJE) to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for being  declared "a failed experiment and unacceptable" by  both the MILF and GPH Peace Panels responsible for the drafting of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and all their annexes, and the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which were mostly crafted in one foreign venue, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
If we apply the Bangsamoro  idea to all those who will opt  by self-ascription or ascription  to be under this proposed  national identity as stipulated in the draft BBL, it is very much similar to the  Bangsa Malaysia policy introduced by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia in 1964. It was primarily aimed at creating an inclusive national identity for all inhabitants of Malaysia which means "being able to identify themselves with the country, speak Bahasa, (Malayan language) and accept the Constitution." It was also intended to replace the  "national culture policy that asserted a Malay ethnic identity." In effect, if the BBL will be finally enacted into law, Congress will not only create a state by name but also another national identity. By then, there will be two nationalities or citizenships in the Philippines; the Filipinos and the Bangsamoro.
The BBL from its title, to its national identity, to its form of government, and to the name of  its highest  official, Prime Minister, are all associated with the Malaysian Federal System of Government. Is the BBL another potential class legislation?