Coronel-Ferrer: Parliament majority risks 'tyranny,' must respect minority

COTABATO CITY — Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, former chair of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel that signed the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has warned that the new Bangsamoro Parliament could become "a tyranny of the majority" if its ruling bloc treats itself as the Government of the Day.

Her remarks came in a series of Facebook posts after the Parliament's inaugural session on Oct. 30. At that session, the ruling coalition elected Abdulraof Macacua as Chief Minister over MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, president of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP).

Neither Murad nor MILF Vice Chairman Mohagher Iqbal was elected to a parliamentary leadership post or committee chairmanship.

"We can now glean how the Bangsamoro Parliament will operate when the majority is equating the Government of the Day with the Parliament," Coronel-Ferrer said.

She stressed that the minority's right to choose its own leaders should be respected.

"Remember: the parliament has a majority only because there is a minority. The minority's selection of their leaders should not be relegated to the committee level," she wrote. "The Government of the Day's authority as the executive body comes from the parliament, not the other way around."

In a separate post addressed to the Bangsamoro Parliament, Coronel-Ferrer wrote: "You are not the Government of the Day."

She said the Parliament is made up of both the ruling coalition, which forms the Government of the Day, and the opposition, which makes up the minority.

"So yes, there remains a majority and a minority in Parliament. And as of last count, there are 80 of you," she wrote, urging members to consult the Bangsamoro Administrative Code.

In a third post, written in Filipino, Coronel-Ferrer explained that in a parliamentary system, the Government of the Day is the executive body, made up of the Chief Minister and the Cabinet. It is formed by the ruling coalition, which supplies the Chief Minister and most Cabinet ministers.

She said this differs from the presidential system, where the separation of powers prevents a person from serving as both legislator and member of the executive. Although the Government of the Day is drawn from Parliament, she said, it is "ibang hayop" (a different animal) from the legislature.

The Government of the Day is accountable to Parliament, she said, and this makes the opposition — the minority that did not join the ruling coalition — important as the main check-and-balance mechanism in a parliamentary system.

Coronel-Ferrer added that positions such as floor leader and committee chairs are posts within Parliament, not within the Government of the Day.

She noted that the parties that will lead and form the Government of the Day in the Bangsamoro have been identified, but that the Government of the Day is not yet complete because no Cabinet has been formed.

"In sum, the Government of the Day (executive body) is a different animal from parliament (legislative body), although the two overlap in composition," she wrote in Filipino.

Coronel-Ferrer's posts cited Section 4 of Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 13, the Bangsamoro Administrative Code. It defines the Government of the Day as "the Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister, and composed of other Ministers appointed by him, majority of whom shall also be Members of the Parliament, that exercises executive authority in the Bangsamoro Government."

The same provision states that during the transition period, the Government of the Day was the MILF-led majority, with the participation of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and other Members of the Bangsamoro Parliament who voted for the MILF's leadership.

Coronel-Ferrer chaired the GPH peace panel from 2012 to 2016.