Datunor S.

Macauyag Social Change

MSDEV-AD-1st year May 11 2018

REFLECTION PAPER FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

Over a years, there has been an explosion in the number of people and organizations using social
networking websites, such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn, YouTube and some
other like kakao talk and Skype.

Social networking is used by individuals to keep contact with friends and relatives especially for
love ones working overseas, and for entertainment. It is also used by businesses to promote
products, brands, people, events, as well as to disseminate.

Teenagers or even adult are using social media like facebook to stay up to date with what people
are doing, and also let them know what is happening in your life, using words, photos, and video.
Social networking makes it easy to join groups and make friends online with others even
foreigners and the most interesting thing is facebook sometimes help those hopeless romantic to
find their love one.

Social networking can also be use to voice out your opinion in support or against a particular
political decision and laws. I personally using my facebook account to join in any international
political discussion like CNN and BBC news until my account has been deactivated by facebook
because someone did not like my comment and reported me to facebook. I think that's a
downside of being activate in political discussion online.

However beyond these very positive advantages of using social media lies the downsides and or
its disadvantages. Once you make a comment or post a picture of you on the internet, it stays
there long enough for other people to criticize you, make fun of you or make copies of your most
embarrassing posts and scatter it to other social networking sites. Some would even go to create
a facebook account and with your photo on it. This is what the millennial called poser. This is
dangerous because this people who is using your personal information and photo can defame
you. He may post unnecessary and rated PG photos and videos or even chat your friends or
family members to ask for financial assistance without your knowledge. Another downside is
that some people can’t help constantly checking their Twitter feeds or uploading selfies on
Instagram. These are dangerous ways to waste time that should have been made for studying or
working.

Therefore, while it is good to use social media for communication and business matter, we have
to be a little sensitive to every information we post and share to avoid dangerous precedence.
How the Bangsamoro Basic Law relevant to development?

BBL answers the Muslims’ aspiration for self-determination and self-identity. It will create a
new Bangsamoro homeland composed of contiguous provinces, cities and municipalities who
want and have voted to become part of the entity. The BBL lays out the framework for its
governance, with provisions that take into consideration Muslim culture and traditions and,
addresses the basic needs of its constituents. Once established, the Bangsamoro government
would be at the forefront of keeping public order and safety, dispensing justice within the bounds
of the law, and addressing the basic requisites of a good life that Muslims are entitled to.

Here are some features of BBL which will contribute in god's will to the development of
bangsamoro land and of course the entire island of Mindanao and Philippines.

1. Territory

On Territory. The bill proposes to cover what remains of the traditional homeland of the
Bangsamoro, which overtime has lost much of their territory due to colonization and some
policies that have deprived them of their lands and marginalized them such as the earlier land
registration acts that did not provide them opportunity to register their lands or settlement
programs that offered their lands to settlers from Luzon and the Visayas. This is part of the
historical injustice that the Bill proposes to address.

The core territory includes the present territory of the ARMM, 6 municipalities in Lanao del
Norte, cities of Cotabato and Isabela, 39 barangays in North Cotabato, and contiguous areas that
may petition to join the Bangsamoro. Note that the 6 municipalities of Lanao del Norte and the
39 barangays in North Cotabato already voted yes in the 2001 plebiscite for inclusion in the
ARMM. However, due to a technical issue in the manner by which the plebiscite question was
designed and the manner of appreciation of the majority of votes, they were not included as part
of the ARMM as it then required them to obtain a double majority.

The Bill proposes to address this challenge by following the suggestion of Justice Adolf
Azcuna during the hearing, by constituting these 6 municipalities in Lanao del Norte and 39
barangays in North Cotabato into geographic areas, so that we can give life to the provision of
the 1987 Constitution on autonomy that allows municipalities and geographic areas to join the
autonomous region. This too, will give life not only to the peace agreement we signed with the
MILF but also to the MNLF.

2. Powers of Government

Reserved powers are matters over which authority and jurisdiction are retained by the
Central Government. The list of reserved powers would pertain to powers that are the attribute of
a sovereign country and are important in maintaining its independence and ability to relate to
other countries such as foreign policy, defense, citizenship and others.
 The concurrent powers are powers shared by the Central Government and the Bangsamoro
Government within the Bangsamoro. The Basic Law enumerates 14 powers exercised by both
the Central Government and the Bangsamoro Government. Constitutional Offices in the
Bangsamoro shall continue to remain under the direct control and supervision of its National
Head Office.

To guard against allegations of rampant corruption in the ARMM this Basic Law is
providing that aside from the regional office of the Commission on Audit in the Bangsamoro, the
Bangsamoro Government shall also create a Bangsamoro Auditing Office (BAO) which shall
conduct pre-audit and post-audit.

On the other hand, the exclusive powers that are granted the Bangsamoro are powers
essential to deliver services to its people and enable them to develop as communities such as
agriculture, public administration, waste management, etc. It is a truism that these matters are
best left to the Bangsamoro government which is closest to the ground.

3. Intergovermental Relations Mechanism/Bodies

These bodies are provided to ensure coordination and cooperation between the Central
Government and Bangsamoro Government on matters such as environment, energy, fiscal and
natural resources among others. These bodies are created as mechanisms to allow a degree of
synchronization while allowing a reasonable latitude of discretion for the Bangsamoro
government to exercise its power in the spirit of the autonomy granted them. In a more context-
specific case for the Bangsamoro and the MILF, these mechanisms will allow them to transition
in their assertion of their legitimate grievances from an armed struggle to a more democratic and
peaceful means. In a way the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) mechanism is the venue for
ventilating their issues and provide them a platform to continue their assertion and advocacy, but
this time around, no longer by the power of the guns but by the power of the pen.

4. Bangsamoro Government

The Bangsamoro Government will allow them self-governance that will put an end to their
feeling of alienation which for decades have fueled their rebellion. This will be a government of
their own, a Parliamentary government with the Chief minister as head of government and
supported by a cabinet. The Parliamentary System of government is closer to their tradition as
the Parliament mirrors their traditional leadership such as the Ruma Bichara (Council) of the
Sultanate of Sulu or the Atas (Council) Bichara of the Sultanate of Maguindanao.

The Parliamentary System with this innovative features of party representation, district
representation, and reserved seats and sectoral representation ensures that no one is left behind.
Everyone will have a voice in the Parliament. The party representation, constituting 50 percent of
the Parliament will infuse new dynamics and hope in the Bangsamoro Government for the
eventual triumph of genuinely principled parties. Candidates will now be voted on the basis of
party platforms and programs and no longer based on popular personalities. The reserved seats
and sectoral representation will ensure that marginalized sectors and other identities will have a
voice in the Parliament.
 An innovation included in this Bill is a provision that penalizes the unprincipled transfer
from one party to another which is a problem in this country. This Bill proposes that if Member
of the Parliament, after having been elected under the proportional representation system,
transfers to another during his incumbency, he will forfeit his seat. Section 18, Art VII.

An anti-dynasty provision in the Parliament has also been included under section 15, Art VII
which provided that no party representative should be related within the second civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity to a district representative or another party representative in the same
parliament.

5. Bangsamoro Justice System

The Bangsamoro Justice System allows them to implement the civil and commercial and
minor criminal aspects of the Shariah law if the parties are Muslims or where parties have
voluntarily submitted to the jurisdiction of the Shariah court. Also, regular courts will continue to
function and allow for the other indigenous peoples in the region to continue to practice their
customary laws. The justice system allows them to practice their religions and recognize the
uniqueness of their culture and identity while maintaining the control and jurisdiction of the
Supreme Court over the Shariah Court system.

6. Public Order and Safety

On Public Order. The Bangsamoro Police remains a part of the PNP. The Bill operationalizes
Section 21, Article 10 of the Constitution that gives local authorities the ability to manage peace
and order.

7. Fiscal Autonomy

On Fiscal autonomy. The Bill will give meaning to the concept of true fiscal autonomy by
providing them sufficient freedom to determine their priorities and how best to spend their funds
with the least intervention from the central government. The block Grant will be 6 percent of the
net collections both of the BIR and the Bureau of Customs. This will be automatically
appropriated and regularly released to the Bangsamoro akin to the system adopted for the IRA of
the LGUs. This measure addresses the gap in the ARMM Autonomy Act that treated the ARMM
only as a national government agency and even less autonomous than ordinary LGUs.

To further strengthen their fiscal autonomy, the Bill proposes to provide a share to the
Bangsamoro in the taxes collected in the region as well as the revenue derived from exploration
development and utilization of natural resources found therein. For taxes the sharing is at 75-25
in favor of the Bangsamoro and for fossil fuels the same will be divided equally. This will put a
stop to their long standing grievance that we have been exploiting their resources such as Lake
Lanao for power generation but that they have been deprived of the benefits that are derived
from the exploitation of the resources found in their area.

8. Special Development Fund

 The SDF of 100Billion is designed to rehabilitate damaged infrastructure in the region as a
result of decades of war. The fund will be released in 10 equal installments for a period of 10
years and will be utilized based on Development Plan crafted by them. This fund will allow them
also to catch up with the rest of the country.

9. Plebiscite

The plebiscite provisions in the Bill effects the Constitutional mandate to secure the consent
of the governed and ratifies the autonomy law for the Bangsamoro. This is not an ordinary law
and the Constitution has set the parameters for its enactment different from ordinary legislation
where after its passage in Congress, the signature of the President is sufficient to make it into a
law. This Bill proposes that the Plebiscite be held in the following areas:

1. The ARMM

2. The 6 municipalities in Lanao del Norte

3. The 39 barangays in North Cotabato

4. Contiguous areas who may petition for inclusion in the Bangsamoro

To give full meaning to the constitutional provision for the creation of the autonomous
region and to honor our commitment to the peace agreements we signed, we have designed the
plebiscite to ensure the preservation of the gains of autonomy by allowing the ARMM, as a
geographic area, to vote as one unit. For the 6 municipalities and to effect the mandate of the
constitution to allow municipalities and geographic areas to join the autonomy, the determination
of majority will be at the level of the municipalities. This is also true with respect to the
geographic area constituting the 39 Barangays in North Cotabato.

For contiguous areas, we have raised the number of petitioners to 20 percent of the registered
voters and also to allow them only to join if their mother unit allows them to do so. This is
ofcourse is without prejudice for Congress to declare them as geographic units, in which case
they may subsequently join as such local government units where the determination of majority
will only be at the level of their concerned local government units.

To put a closure to the GPH-MNLF process which has already undergone a Tripartite
Review with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, we have proposed a subsequent plebiscite
but only on three (3) occasions for a period of 15 years. This process will finally shift the
struggle of our brothers from an armed revolutionary struggle to one of democratic and peaceful
as they need not fight with guns as there is an avenue for them to join their brothers in the
autonomy thru this periodic plebiscite. Our hope is that this provision will finally put a closure to
our peace process with the MNLF and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in the
Bangsamoro and in the whole country as well.

10. Bangsamoro Transition Authority

 The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will be the interim government and allows the
MILF to transition from a rebel organization into governance through a peaceful democratic
process. While the BTA will be led by the MILF, other sectors in the Bangsamoro will be
represented. The transition period under the Bill will be for 3 years which will be a sufficient
time to stabilize the region and hopefully kick start development and reforms.