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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Bangsamoro is the future

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"I look forward now to a well-governed Bangsamoro that will ensure peace, justice, and development."

 

As I write this column, voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela in Basilan are lining up to vote in the plebiscite for or against the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The latter will replace the former. The difference is substantial, with the BARMM definitely superior to the ARMM.

It’s certainly an improvement. Based on the concept of the highest form of local autonomy, agreed upon in the peace talks between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Organic Law delivers an autonomous region and government that will be strong and effective.

In the end, of course, as I wrote in MindaNews a few months ago, the Bangsamoro will rise or fail on whether it is able to make itself sustainable financially and economically. To get to that point, the support of the national government and the international community is necessary. There must be also the right policy, governance and enabling environment to ensure such financial and economic sustainability.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) grants the Bangsamoro government the right to manage its funds, income and resources. Under the law, the National Government will provide an annual block grant automatically appropriated in the General Appropriations Act of the Congress to the Bangsamoro government in order for it to efficiently perform its powers and functions. The block grant, to be released directly to the Bangsamoro Government, is equivalent to five percent (5%) of the net collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and from the Bureau of Customs. The block grant, though, and other national government subsidies given in lump sum, may not be spent without an appropriations law defining the purpose for which they are intended.

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Some have criticized the block grant as excessive but actually it is based on what the ARMM is already getting now plus the money allocated to it through the national government agencies. I know this because I have done a study on options for the block grant a few years ago. One must also bear in mind that the BARMM has far more responsibilities than the ARMM.

The BOL has excellent provisions on natural resources conservation and utilization. The Bangsamoro Government, among others, shall have the power, authority, and right to explore, develop, and utilize the natural resources, including surface and subsurface rights, inland waters, coastal waters, and renewable and nonrenewable resources in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. In the exercise of that power, the protection, conservation, rehabilitation, and development of forests, coastal, and marine resources, including the adoption of programs and projects, to ensure the maintenance of ecological balance and biodiversity shall be given priority. In addition, the Bangsamoro Government shall also have the power to declare nature reserves and aquatic parks, forests, watershed reservations, and other protected areas in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. The management and protection of nature reserves and aquatic parks, forests, watershed reservations, and other protected areas in the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro that have already been defined by and under the authority of the National Government shall be transferred to the Bangsamoro Government.

Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and national laws, the Bangsamoro Government and the National Government shall jointly exercise the power to grant rights, privileges, concessions over the exploration, development, and utilization of uranium and fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal in the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro. Qualified citizens who are bona fide residents of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, all other conditions being equal, shall have preferential rights over the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources.

The Bangsamoro Government may endorse to the President financial and technical agreements covering mineral resources in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, in accordance with the mining policy . Small-scale mining shall be regulated by the Bangsamoro Government. Zones of Joint Cooperation in the Sulu Sea and the Moro Gulf are also to be created. The Bangsamoro Government shall have exclusive powers over inland waters, including lakes, marshes, rivers, and tributaries within its territory, except those that provide energy to power generating plants.

The Bangsamoro Government shall also recognize, protect, and promote the establishment of cooperative enterprises as well as establish economic zones, industrial estates, and free ports in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

Also to be established are banks and financial institutions and their branches including an Islamic window in domestic and foreign conventional banks; as well as off-shore banking units of foreign banks within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, and in accordance with the principles of the Islamic banking system.

The construction and maintenance of national roads, bridges, water supply and services, and flood control and irrigation systems and the maintenance of existing airports,  seaports, and wharves in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region shall be funded and implemented by the National Government.

In Article XIV (Rehabilitation and Development) the Bangsamoro Government, with funding support from the National Government, shall intensify development efforts for the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and development of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region as part of the normalization process.

The National Government will provide a special development fund to the Bangsamoro Government for the rebuilding, rehabilitation, and development of its conflict-affected communities. The amount equivalent to fifty billion pesos (P50,000,000,000.00), at five billion pesos (P5,000,000,000.00) per year, for a period of ten (10) years from the ratification of the Organic Law, shall be allocated for this purpose.

Overall, especially with the block grant and the special development fund, the Bangsamoro should be able to stand up and lay down the foundations of good governance and economic development. I would have wanted more fiscal autonomy but the BOL provisions are still an improvement over the ARMM law.

Moving forward, it is important for the national government to implement its commitments faithfully, This incudes Congress when it exercises its power of the purse.

The leaders of the Bangsamoro must in turn hold themselves accountable to the highest standards of governance and accountability if this is to work. As a former government negotiator with the MILF and teaching now a generation of future lawyers of the Bangsamoro, I know many of them and I believe that this will be the case.

The transition period for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region shall commence upon ratification of this Organic Law. A Bangsamoro Transition Authority will serve as the interim government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region during the transition period, with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front leading the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, without prejudice to the participation of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in its membership. That is consistent with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro we forged with the MILF in 2014.

I assisted the government panels that negotiated with both the Moro National Liberation Front and the MILF in the last 25 years. I am happy and grateful we have reached this stage.

After yesterday’s plebiscite, we will wait two weeks, on February 6, to find out if the current ARMM will be expanded to more municipalities in Lanao del Sur and barangays in North Cotabato. By the time this column goes to press, we will know if the cities of Cotabato and Isabela have joined the BARMM. I hope both cities vote yes but even if the No vote prevails, that is not the end of the world. It will still be a day of celebration.

I look forward now to a well-governed Bangsamoro that will ensure peace, justice, and development. This will be good not only for the Bangsamoro but also for the whole of Mindanao and for the country.

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