COTABATO City — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament (BTA) opened its second regular session with more urgent legislative tasks ahead, including the passage of three remaining priority bills specifically provided by Republic Act 11054.
The BTA started its new legislative season, following the approval of a resolution on Monday, designating Member of the Parliament Said Salendab as the acting Wali of the Bangsamoro government to open the session.
Salendab beat the gong at 2:12 p.m., signaling the opening of the sessions which will from May 15 to February 15, 2024.
In his address to the Parliament, BTA Speaker Atty. Pangalian Balindong noted the legislature’s dedication and hard work in fulfilling its mandate of crafting laws that “will shape the future of the Bangsamoro region” by passing 35 measures since its establishment in 2019.
Majority Floor Leader Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba said priority measures will be calendared for the plenary and were seen to be completed and passed by December this year.
She said the bills included a measure that seeks to transfer the seat of government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to Parang, a port town in Maguindanao del Norte.
Parliamentarian Dumama-Alba said the bill will provide for a 10-year progressive period for the transfer of all BARMM offices from Cotabato City to Parang.
The Parliament has also adopted 324 resolutions.
“These legislative measures cover a wide range of sectors-based concerns and issues, all aimed at bringing about positive changes in addressing the needs of the Bangsamoro people,” said Balindong.
The passage of the remaining priority codes and the legislative agenda of the Government of the Day are among the important issues that the Bangsamoro Parliament will take up during the current legislative season.
The Parliament has enacted four of the seven priority codes—the Administrative Code, Civil Service, the Education Code, and the Electoral Code.
In his report to the Bangsamoro, Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim underscored the efforts of the members of Parliament’s in passing the priority agenda, the setting of more bills for the Legislative Calendar. These included the passage of the Bangsamoro Local Governance Code,,
the Bangsamoro Revenue Code, the Indigenous Peoples’ Code, and other important measures for the Second Regular Session.
Before the year ends, Ibrahim urged the Bangsamoro Parliament to enact the Local Governance Code and submit the Bangsamoro Revenue Code.
The Bangsamoro government, he said, will also give priority to medical services, education, strategic infrastructure, and social services by building and upgrading hospitals, creating additional health infrastructure, providing comprehensive medical assistance, and building more schools.
In a press statement the Bangsamoro Government, said the BTA Parliament’s legislative agenda included the Bangsamoro Holidays Act, The Revolving Fund Act of Bangsamoro Budget System, the Parliamentary Redistricting Bill, the creation of municipalities in the Special Geographic Area, Bangsamoro Investment Code, Labor Code, Bangsamoro Agri-Fisheries Training Institute, the Bangsamoro Seat of Government, Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Magna Carta for Persons With Disability, Bangsamoro Gender and Development Code, Lake Lanao Development Authority, creation of the Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations Act, the Bangsamoro Science High School, the Strengthening of the Regional Madrasah Graduate Education Act of 2023, and Bangsamoro Code of Muslim Personal Laws.
