The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and the Philippine System Identification (PhilSys) were among the list of 183 new laws signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018.
Duterte signed Republic Act 11154 on July 27 to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao with a new Bangsamoro government designed to bring a lasting peace in Mindanao.
The BOL, previously known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law, is considered as one of Duterte’s biggest legislative achievements which will give the Moro people basic legal tools to chart their own destiny within the country’s constitutional framework.
The BOL has yet to be approved through a plebiscite in Muslim-populated regions in Mindanao.
Eleven days after he enacted BOL, Duterte approved RA 11155 creating PhilSys or National ID which serves as a single official identification card for all citizens and foreign residents in the country.
Duterte had said the PhilSys will boost his drive against “social menaces of poverty, corruption, and criminal issues as well as terrorism and violent extremism.”
The President also signed equally important laws such as RA 11053 or the ‘Anti-Hazing Act of 2018’ which completely prohibits all forms of hazing and imposes harsher penalties.
To encourage more local and foreign investors, Duterte also signed RA 11032 or an act promoting ease of doing business and efficient delivery of government services.
Other significant measures signed into law include: RA 11148 or the so-called ‘First 1,000 Days’ Law which seeks to provide health and nutrition to children during their early days of development; RA 11037 institutionalizing a national feeding program for “undernourished” grade school pupils; and RA 11036 which will create National Mental Health policy.
Since his overwhelming victory as the first President from Mindanao in the 2016 elections, Duterte has signed a total of 227 laws, many of them for the establishment of national high schools, barangays, and hospitals.
For 2018, Duterte also made substantial achievements in governance through the issuance of Executive Orders (EOs) and Memorandum Circulars (MCs) particularly those that bolstered his campaign against environment exploitation, terrorism, insurgency and illegal drugs.
Two weeks after he ordered the closure of Boracay, Duterte signed EO 53 on May 8 creating an inter-agency task force to address the degradation of the island paradise which the President described as a ‘cesspool’ due to the presence of illegal waste discharge and other environmental problems in the island brought by years of neglect.
After a six-month cleanup and rehabilitation, the world-reknowned island tourist destination reopened on Oct. 26 with clean waters, proper sewerage system, widened roads and new rules and regulations that will protect Boracay.
Duterte’s order to rehabilitate Boracay has prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to also correct possible environmental flaws in other tourist destinations of the country.
The President also boosted his drug war by issuing EO 66 which directed all government offices, departments, bureaus, agencies and offices to implement the Philippine anti-illegal drugs strategy (PADS).
The EO was supported by Memorandum Circular 53 signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Nov. 12, directing all government offices and public universities and colleges to take “active role” in the war against illicit drugs.
To address the decades-long insurgency, Duterte signed EO 70 on Dec. 4 to institutionalize a ‘whole-of-nation’ approach in attaining and sustainable peace by creating a national task force aimed at ending local communist armed conflict.
He also issued EO 68 adopting the national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) strategy, and EO 69 granting financial support to the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary Serve (CAFGU-AAS).
To sustain economic growth, Duterte signed EO 65 promulgating the Eleventh Regular Foreign Investment Negative List; EO 64 reviving barter in Mindanao; EO 61 modifying the rates of import duty on certain imported articles; EO 57 reducing rates of duty on imported capital equipment, spare parts, and accessories, EO 51 which protects the right to security of tenure of all workers.
Duterte also strengthened the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) through EO 50 directing all concerned government agencies and local government units to implement the MSME Development Plan 2017-2022.
Aside from EO 53 on drug war, another important circular issued by the Palace was MC No. 52 creating inter-agency task force on federalism and constitutional reforms.
A total of 241 presidential proclamations have also been approved in 2018, many of them declaring special (non-working) days in different areas of the country.
Proclamation 572 was the most controversial as it revoked the amnesty granted to the Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
According to the proclamation, the grant of amnesty to Trillanes is declared “void ab initio” (invalid from the beginning) because the lawmaker did not comply with the minimum requirements such as filing of the official amnesty application form and “expressly” admission of guilt for the crimes of rebellion.
Trillanes, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, was one of several military officers who led at least three military uprisings—the Oakwood Mutiny, the Marines Stand-off, and the Manila Peninsula siege against former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Duterte also issued Proclamation 489 on May 15 to formally declare 352,390 hectares of the Philippine Rise within the country’s executive economic zone (EEZ) as the Philippine Rise Marine Resource Reserve (PRMRR).
In 2017, Duterte issued EO No. 25 renaming the 13-million-hectare area undersea landmass off Aurora from Benham Rise to Philippine Rise.
Duterte, meanwhile, signed five administrative orders (AO) in 2018 including AO No. 13 which removed non-tariff barriers and streamlined administrative procedures on the importation of agricultural products particularly rice.
The order was the government’s solution to the rising prices of rice and other agricultural products while waiting for the Rice Tariffication Bill to be signed into law.
The bill, certified as urgent by the President in October, was approved by the bicameral conference committee of Congress on Nov. 22 and is expected to be signed “anytime” soon by Duterte, according to Malacañang.
Other important administrative orders signed this year were AO No. 10 centralizing all government efforts for the reintegration of former rebels; AO No. 11 which created an oversight panel for the entry of third telecommunications player; and, AO No. 12 directing all government agencies in implementing the National Security Strategy 2018.