Finally allocating P50 to P100 million for preparatory activities and transition projects, the core political administration of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is ready for dissolution in June after 27 years of existence, officials said.
ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said he had already issued a memorandum for the “creation of a transition team,” which would bind regional agencies, including those operating under local funds, to comply with submission of accomplishment reports for common compilation by the Regional Planning and Development Office.
Under the proposed BBL drafted by the Expanded Bangsamoro Transitional Commission, the present-day ARMM will be replaced by a Bangsamoro Transitional Authority.
Hataman said the ARMM has allocated its savings to provide some P50 to P100 million in preparation for an expected BTA succession of the ARMM, which includes construction of buildings.
He said a self-imposed Presidential deadline on Congress to pass of the Bangsamoro Basic Law proved too heavy for an indication that the law will be passed before the end of May.
“If the BBL is passed by end of May, a plebiscite [to ratify it] would then be held. To my mind a June target for a countdown would be fair enough,” Hataman said.
In his speech last April 25 in Buluan, Maguindanao, President Rodrigo Duterte said Congress should pass the BBL before the end of May or he might as well resign as president.
“That came too heavy for a presidential statement, that’s why I am 100 percent sure the BBL will be passed into law. Moreover, if we go over the President’s previous statements on BBL, he has been consistent on it,” Hataman said in Filipino.
Hataman was with members of Bangsamoro media in Darapanan, Maguindanao, following the presidential visit hosted in Buluan by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu for the turnover of loose firearms to authorities by officials and residents of the province’s 36 municipalities.
A BTA setup will be basically the ARMM minus the regional governor, the regional vice-governor, and members of the Regional Legislative Assembly, including the peer-elected RLA Speaker.
Members of Bangsamoro Parliament, six per district, will be appointed by the President under a transitional BTA administration, with a three-year lifespan to evolve into a Bangsamoro Government.
Appointed Members of Bangsamoro Parliament in a BTA period will elect a Parliamentary Speaker, and an Acting Chief Minister among themselves, to replace the regional governor in the present setup as the head of the autonomous government.
ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia said the Moro people were hopeful of gaining “lasting peace and development with the coming passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.”
For her part, Alamia philosophically explained the evolution of the Moro experience in a Catholic school commencement exercises on April 29. She said the road (from conflict) to peace and recovery starts with resilience: “We build resilience into ourselves; we build resilience into the people we love; and we build resilience together as a community.”
“That’s called collective resilience. It’s an incredibly powerful force which our country, the Philippines, and the world right now need a lot more of,” Alamia said as speaker of the recent commencement exercises of the Ateneo de Davao Graduate.
But in spite of Hataman’s assurances of a smooth turnover to a BTA transition, many employees have raised civil service concern on possible massive displacement of employees— initially at the level of the regional government, including its line agencies.
Some employees, asking that they be not named in a news story, said they might support options that provincial and district levels of ARMM agencies would be reverted back to Provincial local government units (PLGU) to prevent breaks-up in basic education, health and social services.
They explained that the provisions on the devolution of agencies in the Local Government Code (LGC) would automatically apply, when “exigency of service so requires,” as soon as the ARMM law is repealed.
Under the LGC, the national government has devolved to LGUs certain functions of the Departments of Health, Social Welfare and Development, Agriculture, Education, Environment, and Interior and Local Governments.
“As in the past, permanent structure of a Bangsamoro regional government can always take back the administrative and operational supervision of provincial and district offices once the governing structure is completed and established,” a mid-level executive told the Manila Standard.