'Reconsider Sulu removal from BARMM'

A deputy speaker of the Bangsamoro parliament has urged the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to exclude Sulu from the core territory of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or BARMM.

- With Marc Jayson Cayabyab

Deputy speaker Nabil Tan said the High Court should take into account the "operative fact" that Sulu has been part of BARMM since its inception five years ago.

"I politely appeal to the Supreme Court to think about the implications of such a decision," Tan told reporters yesterday.

The Court ruled favorably on the petition of his elder brother, Sulu Ğov. Abdusakur Tan, to exclude the province from BARMM since its residents voted against inclusion into the region's territory during a plebiscite in 2019.

The creation of BARMM - a product of 22 years of peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front - was premised on the 2012 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.

According to the deputy speaker, the exclusion poses serious implications in Sulu, including fiscal problems that can stifle governance and development initiatives in the province.