Resolution Expressing the Sense of the Parliament Supporting Charter Change to Resolve Constitutional Issues in the Implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) That Necessitates Amendment of the 1987 Constitution

The proposal would have Parliament express its full support for amending the 1987 Constitution to resolve the constitutional issues blocking full implementation of the Bangsamoro peace agreements, and call on stakeholders, civil society, indigenous peoples and other sectors to join consultations to build broad support for charter change. Copies would go to the Office of the President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House.

Filed on 20 February 2024 by Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim with MPs Mohagher M. Iqbal and Pangalian M. Balindong, with 29 co-authors. It was consolidated with Proposed Resolution No. 509 and adopted the next day, 21 February 2024, as Resolution No. 433.

The region was born of a peace agreement to correct historical injustice. Since the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed in 2014 and the Bangsamoro Organic Law enacted, some provisions of the accord remain unimplemented because they cannot fit in the 1987 Constitution. The peace process has 3 tracks, political, normalization and constitutional, and the first Bangsamoro Transition Commission was tasked to propose amendments. The proposal says the current charter change move, aimed by its proponents at economic provisions, is a 'golden opportunity' to add 6 issues: power-sharing between the national and regional governments, the Shari'ah justice system, policing, regional supervision of local governments, the powers of constitutional bodies in the region, and the qualifications of the Chief Minister. It notes that members have sworn allegiance to the Constitution but says it 'is not cast in stone'.

The index records the adoption without a number; Resolution No. 433 of 21 February 2024 carries this proposal's title and its list of 6 issues, and adds the call from No. 509 to entrench the Bangsamoro in the Constitution and the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum as a recipient. It went from filing to adoption in 1 day, with the Chief Minister and the Speaker as authors. The filed copy names 10 co-authors; the index lists 29.