SC RULES: SULU REMAINS OUT OF BARMM, PERIOD.

THE Supreme Court affirmed with finality its earlier decision excluding the Province of Sulu from being incorporated into the Bangsamoro Regional Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In a decision dated November 26, 2024, penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and already uploaded in the SC’s website, the high court did not give in to the pressure brought to it by the Executive Branch, BARMM officials and other prominent private ‘intervenors’ calling for a reconsideration of its September 9, 2024, decision.

In that decision, the high court affirmed the constitutionality of RA 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) as it also ruled in favor of the petition filed by the local government of Sulu headed by Governor Abdusakur Tan II, to remove the province from BARMM after its residents rejected the ratification of BOL during the plebiscite held for the purpose in January 2019.

“The result of the plebiscite is clear.

“The people of Sulu voted against ratifying the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

“This Court cannot override the will of the people expressed through the votes cast. It cannot trivialize that reality,” the high court emphasized.

“The creation of an autonomous region must be based on the independent will of the people in each province or city, honoring their choice rather than imposing the collective decision of others,” it added.

Associate Senior Justice Leonen, in his ponencia, noted he is “no stranger” to the shared history between Sulu and the rest of the Bangsamoro but said the argument that Sulu must be part of BARMM because of its historical ties to the struggle of the Bangsamoro is untenable.

“(T)he issue rightfully brought before this tribunal was not a question of pure history, but one of constitutionality in the lived present.

“This decision is not a ruling on the Bangsamoro identity of the people of Sulu but its preference not to join the current political arrangement called the BARMM.

“Identity is not solely defined by inclusion within a territory. The Tausug can choose to ascribe themselves as Bangsamoro but who choose not to join the BARMM.”

The decision also dismissed the argument that regardless of the result of the plebiscite in Sulu, it should still be part of the BARMM as the votes cast in other Moro areas that favor inclusion should be treated as comprising the entire geographic area, similar to those cast under the ARMM (Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao), BARMM’s predecessor.

“To treat the entire autonomous region as one geographic area not only overrides the right of each province and city for self-determination, but also undermines the distinct historical, cultural, and political characteristics that make them Bangsamoro,” the court said.

With the decision, the SC said it considers the issue close.

“This Decision is FINAL AND IMMEDIATELY EXECUTORY. No further pleadings will be entertained,” the ruling declared.