Key Philippine Military and Insurgency-Related Events: Bangsamoro could get P528.6B over 6 years

Monday, March 9, 2015

Bangsamoro could get P528.6B over 6 years - DBM projection

From InterAksyon (Mar 10): Bangsamoro could get P528.6B over 6 years - DBM projection

The government of the new Bangsamoro autonomous entity could get as much as P528.6 billion from the national government in its first six years of existence, projections from the Department of Budget and Management indicate.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the projection was submitted to the committee on appropriations at the House of Representatives "for discussion."

Abad acknowledged that the appropriations panel "did not agree to budgets allocated for the Bangsamoro Transition Authority and the Bangsamoro regional government since these institutions still have to be created by law."

An ad hoc panel is currently deliberating the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that will establish the new autonomous homeland once enacted.

Based on the DBM projection, the Bangsamoro will get P70 billion in 2015; P73.7 billion in 2016; P82.5 billion in 2017; P91.6 billion in 2018; P99.4 billion in 2019; and, P111.4 billion in 2020.

The projection included the annual block grant; Internal Revenue Allotment; national government agency subsidy; special development fund; transition fund; infrastructure fund; 100 percent national internal revenue tax collections in ARMM/BM; and normalization fund.

Abad clarified that "some of the allocations in the document are not new and are currently being already provided" to the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

These are: the subsidy to the regional government (or block grant under the BBL), IRA of local government units, share of regional government in national taxes.

"Some are for the benefit of the region, but are implemented by the national government agencies," Abad added.

The sources of funds for the Bangsamoro government, as stated in the Annex on Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing of the BBL, are as follows:

Block Grant - the automatic appropriation that shall represents 4 percent in the share of the national government in the internal revenue allotment. This will be a separate amount from the IRA of LGUs. The BBL will provide the formula that will determine the amount, which will not be less that the last budget received by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which was P24 billion for 2015. Being automatically appropriated, this means officials of the Bangsamoro government will no longer have to defend the amount in Congress during budget deliberation.

Taxes and revenue generation already devolved to the ARMM. In addition to this taxing powers, the Bangsamoro will also have the power to levy capital gains tax, documentary stamp tax, and estate tax, where all taxable elements are within the Bangsamoro.

The Bangsamoro will have the power to levy fees and charges.

The Bangsamoro may receive grants from donors, and such grants will be received by the entity directly.

The Bangsamoro will have the authority to contract loans, credits and other forms of indebtedness with any government or private bank and other lending institutions.

Special development fund

Government revenues will be shared by the national government and the Bangsamoro in the following manner:

75% (Bangsamoro); 25% (national government) - national taxes, fees and charges collected by the national government within the Bangsamoro. These national taxes include income taxes, VAT and other percentage taxes, but exclude tariff and custom duties.

100% of the revenues for non-metallic minerals will be for the Bangsamoro.

75% (Bangsamoro); 25% (national government) for metallic minerals.

50-50 sharing for fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal) and uranium.

If the BBL is enacted this year, the Bangsamoro government is supposed to receive a total of P117.80 billion based on the proposed funding by the DBM.

This was based on the regular budget of ARMM under the General Appropriations Act (P25.22 billion); existing sources such as IRA, downloaded funds fron national government agencies, 70 percent of national internal revenue collections (P33.08 billion); and new sources of funds (P59.49 billion).