Among the country’s 17 regions, the future Bangsamoro, targeted to be set up by June 30, 2016, will be distinct from all the rest — including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that it will replace — because it will be the only region in the country that will run a government through parliamentary means.
The Bangsamoro will also be the only region with an
“asymmetric relationship” with the Central or national Government, “reflective
of the recognition of their Bangsamoro identity, and their aspiration for self
governance” and in accordance with the Constitutional provisions on the
creation of autonomous regions.
According to the 119-page draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)
submitted to Congress on Wednesday morning, the powers of government are vested
in the Bangsamoro Parliament which shall set policies, legislate on matters
within its authority and elect a Chief Minister who shall exercise executive
authority on its behalf.
The legislative authority shall be exercised by the
Bangsamoro Parliament, the executive authority by the Cabinet which shall be
headed by a Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister, who shall be elected by a majority vote
of the Members of Parliament (MPs), appoints the Deputy Minister from among the
MPs, and the members of the Cabinet, majority of whom shall also come from the
Parliament.
60 members
Unlike other regions in the country, the Bangsamoro will
have a titular head of government, the “Wali” who shall take on “only
ceremonial functions.”
At present, the 24-year old ARMM, the political entity set
up in accordance with the Constitutional mandate on autonomous regions
supposedly in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras ,
is run by a Governor, Vice Governor, Cabinet and a 24-member Regional
Legislative Assembly.
The government and MILF signed the Framework Agreement on
the Bangsamoro on October 15, 2012, with both parties acknowledging that the
status quo is “unacceptable” and that they would work for the creation of a new
autonomous political entity called the Bangsamoro, to replace the ARMM.
The parties signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the
Bangsamoro on March 27 this year, which includes the FAB, the annexes, and
other agreements signed by both parties in the 17-year peace negotiations.
As soon as the Basic Law is ratified, hopefully by the first
quarter of 2015, the ARMM shall be deemed abolished and the Bangsamoro
Transition Authority (BTA) shall take over and run the government using a
parliamentary system, until officials of the regular Bangsamoro Government are
elected in mid-2016.
During the transition period, the BTA, which will serve as
the interim government. will have 50 members, appointed by the President.
Lumads (Indigenous Peoples) in the Bangsamoro territory, women and settler
communities and other sectors “shall have representatives in the BTA.”
The Bangsamoro Parliament, whose MPs will be elected in May
2016, will be composed of 60 members “unless otherwise provided by the
Parliament.”
MindaNews learned that the original 97-page draft submitted
by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) to the Office of the President on
April 22, proposed an 80-member Parliament.
Reserved seats
The final draft provides that the Parliament’s seats will be
allocated at 50-40-10: 50% for party representatives through a system of
proportional representation; 40% for single-member districts; and 10% reserved
seats for sectoral representatives.
Of the reserved seats allocated for different sectors, two
seats each are specifically reserved for “non-Moro indigenous communities
(Lumads or Indigenous Peoples) and settler communities.” Women shall also have
a reserved seat.
The final draft BBL also provides for the creation by the
Bangsamoro Parliament of an office or ministry for Indigenous Peoples (IPs), to
be headed by IPs.
The Bangsamoro will also have its Bangsamoro Electoral
Office which shall be part of the Commission on Elections, to, among other powers,
register and accredit regional political parties.
The similarity with the rest of the elective officials in
the country is that officials of the Bangsamoro will also have a three-year
term and a maximum of three consecutive terms.
The BTC draft proposed a five-year term, for a maximum of
two terms.
Administration of Justice, Police, Representation
The justice system in the Bangsamoro is also unique in the
entire country in that it will consist of a Shari’ah law “which shall have
supremacy and application over Muslims only;” the traditional or tribal justice
system for the IPs in the Bangsamoro territory; local courts; and alternative
dispute resolution systems.
The Bangamoro will also have a “Shari’ah High Court.”
The final draft law also provides for a Bangsamoro Police
Force which shall be part of the Philippine National Police, that will be
“organized, maintained, and utilized for the primary purpose of law enforcement
and maintenance of peace and order in the Bangsamoro.”
The final draft also proposes representation of the
Bangsamoro in the Central or National Government – with at least one qualified
Bangsamoro appointed as Cabinet Secretary, at least one in each of the
departments, offices and bureaus holding executive, primarily confidential,
highly technical, policy-determining positions, and one Commissioner in each of
the Constitutional bodies.
It also proposes that a Moro be named Justice in the Supreme
Court and to two seats in the Court of Appeals.
The 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the government and
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) actually proposed the same
representation in the Cabinet and Judiciary. But it also sought a sectoral
representative in Congress.
RA 9054 which transformed the 1996 political document into a
legislation, provides for the same provisions of representation by appointment
to the Cabinet, GOCCs and the Judiciary but did not provide for the appointment
of a sectoral representative to Congress.
Powers
The final draft BBL lists the reserved powers exercised by the
national government and the exclusive and concurrent powers exercised by the
Bangsamoro government, as well as provisions for inter-governmental relations.
Fourteen matters are listed under concurrent powers, 58
under exclusive powers and 16 other exclusive powers previously granted to the
ARMM under RA 9054 and RA 6734.
The Malacanang-reviewed draft in June had proposed that the
terms “reserved,” “exclusive” and “concurrent” be deleted and revised as
recommended by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
(OPAPP) which said these terms “are only for political documents.”
MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim told MindaNews the listing
should not be deleted since this is the heart of the agreement. The listing was
returned.
Funding the Bangsamoro
The draft law provides that the Bangsamoro is entitled to
all fund sources as enumerated in the law as well as the powers to create
sources of revenues and to levy taxes, fees and charges as indicated.
It also provides for the sharing scheme between the
Bangsamoro and the national government, in the exploration, development and
utilization of natural resources within the Bangsamoro: 100% for the Bangsamoro
for non-metallic minerals such as sand, gravel and quarry resources; 75% for
metallic minerals; and 50% for fossil fuels –petroleum, natural gas, and coal-
and uranium.
Funding support from the national government, a major aspect
in the success or failure of a new entity, was the last topic tackled by the
government and MILF for the draft BBL.
Mohagher Iqbal, BTC chair and MILF peace panel chair told
MindaNews on September 7 that the last provisions whose text would be
finalized, although these had been agreed upon already, were on funds the
Bangsamoro would need to run the government: the block grant, special
development fund and the transition fund.
The final draft submitted to Congress provides for an annual
block grant as share of the Bangsamoro in the national internal revenue of the
government, at 4% of the net national internal revenue collection of the Bureau
of Internal Revenue, less the internal revenue allotment of local government
units.
MindaNews learned that the formula for the block grant
indicated in the original BTC draft was “5% of the sum of the collection of
Bureau of Internal Revenue less the IRA of LGUs, and the collection of the
Bureau of Customs.”
Under the Article on Rehabilitation and Development, the
final draft BBL provides for a Special Development Fund (SDF) for
rehabilitation and development in the Bangsamoro, which shall be released upon
the ratification of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, at P7 billion “for the first year
following the ratification of this Basic Law” and beginning with the second
year, the SDF shall be P2B per year for five years.
The BTC draft proposed an SDF equivalent to one per cent of
the current national budget, estimated at around P19 billion, every year for a
period of 10 years.
Same amount, circa 1989
MindaNews learned that the Malacanang-reviewed draft in June
proposed to change the SDF to a total of P10 billion at P2 billion a year for
five years. The final draft added P7 billion for the first year and P2 billion
a year for the next five years.
The P2B-a-year-for-five-years fund however, is the same
amount provided for the first ARMM administration in 1989, as “annual
assistance” for five years for infrastructure projects, as provided for under
Section 10 of the Transitory Provisions of RA 6734, approved on August 1, 1989
by then President Corazon Aquino.
Twenty-five years later, under the administration of her
son, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, the final draft law proposes an additional P7
billion SDF for the first year (2015), but proposes the same amount of P10
billion spread across five years at P2B a year starting with the second year
(2016-2020).
Based on the computer price index, the value of P2 billion
in 1989 is P8.7 billion in 2014.
The BTC draft also proposed a “Normalization Trust Fund”
dedicated to addressing the need of combatants and their communities.
The Annex on Normalization provides that the government
shall provide the necessary funding for the normalization process. It also said
the parties agreed to “allow either party to access funds from donors for the
operations of the difference mechanisms under the normalization process to
supplement the budgetary requirements provided by the GPH.”
The BTC draft did not specify an amount but merely provided
for the adoption of a “financing scheme criteria” for the use of the fund to
cover “capacity building and institutional strengthening, impact programs to
address imbalance in development and infrastructure, and economic facilitation
for return to normal life affecting combatant and non-combatant elements of the
MILF, indigenous peoples, women, children, and internally displaced persons.”
The final draft does not include this provision.
For the “organizational activities of the BTA, organization
of the bureaucracy, hiring of personnel, and the exercise of functions and
powers of the BTA,” the BTC draft proposed P20 billion.
The Malacanang-reviewed draft in June 2014 recommended to
change the amount to 500 million pesos.
In the final draft submitted to Congress, the amount was
pegged at one billion pesos or 1/20th of the BTC-proposed amount.
In addition, the final draft law provides that the current
year’s appropriations for the ARMM is to be transferred to the BTA and
supplemental budget “may be appropriated by Congress to support the transition.”
http://www.mindanews.com/peace-process/2014/09/11/imagining-the-future-bangsamoro-through-the-draft-basic-law/
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