Sulu not part of BARMM — SC

Sulu not part of BARMM — SC

THE Supreme Court (SC) upheld an earlier ruling declaring Sulu is not part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) after the province rejected the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (Republic Act No. 11054).

The high court’s ruling publicized on Monday is immediately executory, said Spokesperson Camille Sue Mae L. Ting in a press briefing on the same day.

The law, enacted on July 27, 2018, established BARMM as a political entity and its governmental structure. The majority of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) ratified it, except for Sulu. Sulu filed the petition as it was included in BARMM despite not ratifying the law.

Its inclusion in BARMM violated Article X, Section 18 of the Constitution, which said that “only provinces, cities, and geographic areas voting favorably in the plebiscite shall be included in the autonomous region.”

“As Sulu rejected the Bangsamoro Organic Law in the plebiscite, it was wrong to include the province in BARMM.” — Chloe Mari A. Hufana