AFTER six days of deliberations, the congressional bicameral committee on Wednesday finally approved the proposed organic law for Bangsamoro in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which they described as a lot better than the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The 28-member bicameral conference committee said the proposed organic law, which seeks to abolish the ARMM and creates BARMM, can withstand constitutional scrutiny before the Supreme Court.
The final copy of the reconciled proposed law will be ratified by Congress on Monday, July 23, and will be submitted to President Duterte to sign it into law hours before his third State of the Nation Address of the same day.
“On behalf of our contingent to the BiCam Conference Committee on the Bangsamoro organic law, I have the honor to inform you that we have successfully accomplished the mandate you had given us. We will submit the BiCam Report for your ratification on Monday morning,” Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas Sr. of Ilocos Norte told reporters.
“All of us took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the Philippines. We have to abide by it,” Fariñas added.
For her part, Anak Mindanao Party-list Rep. Amihilda J.Sangcopan said the passage of the BARRM will address the peace and order problem in Mindanao.
“I and other [Moro] legislators fought hard for the passage of the peace bill. We bore the moral obligations in this August chambers, more so, our forebears who sought in every arena possible to push for a peaceful and just resolution to almost half a century of struggle for self-determination,” said Sangcopan, a member of the bicameral conference committee.
“Moros will have something better than the status quo that is the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” she added.
The Bangsamoro region will be headed by a chief minister and a ceremonial leader called a Wali.
Parliament
Under its structural government, the BARMM would have a parliament of 80 members composed of 50 percent party representatives, 40 percent district representatives and 10 percent sectoral representatives. Article VII said the Seat of Government, where the Bangsamoro Parliament shall determine the seat of the Bangsamoro Government anywhere within the jurisdiction, and the Powers of Government, where the powers of government shall be vested in the Bangsamoro Parliament.
On the policies regarding the Executive Offices, the reconciled version of the measure said the executive function and authority shall be exercised by the Cabinet, headed by the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister shall be elected by a majority vote from the members of the Parliament.
Both versions of the two chambers’ proposed Bangsamoro law on the powers, duties and functions of the Chief Minister were adopted. According to the measure, the Chief Minister shall head the Bangsamoro government; appoint officers; formulate the platform of government; issue executive orders; and represent the Bangsamoro government outside the Bangsamoro.
Meanwhile, the committee approved having two Deputy Chief Ministers to be nominated by the Chief Minister, as appointed by the members of the Parliament from among themselves instead of the original provision of the House version—which states that there shall be two Deputy Chief Ministers to be appointed by the Chief Minister.
The approved version includes also a provision guaranteeing two reserved seats for “non-Moro indigenous peoples and settler communities.” Except from energy-producing bodies of water like Lake Lanao that will be handled jointly by the Department of Energy and the Bangsamoro region, the latter will oversee all inland bodies of water.
The coverage of the region includes current ARMM provinces, such as Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, while a regional plebiscite is awaited.
The bicameral committee adopted the House version of the measure which provides that “the six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and the 39 barangays of North Cotabato could vote to join the territory in a referendum to be conducted in the mother territory of the areas involved.”
Share in taxes
The bicameral conference committee, meanwhile, adopted the House version of the bill regarding policies on the shares in taxes of the national government.
Under the provision, 75 percent of the national government taxes, fees and charges collected in the Autonomous Region in the Bangsamoro shall be shared to the Bangsamoro, including the shares of the local government units, and the remaining 25 percent to the national government.
Meanwhile, on revenue sources, the Senate version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) was accepted by the committee. It states that “the Bangsamoro Government shall have the power to create its own sources of revenues and to levy taxes, fees and charges.”
The sources of revenue of the Bangsamoro Government shall include taxes; fees and charges; annual block grant from the national government; revenues from exploration, development and utilization of natural resources; dividends from Bangsamoro government-owned and -controlled corporations, financial institutions and other corporations; grants and donations; and loans.
The bicameral-approved version said the national government and Bangsamoro shall jointly have the power to grant rights, privileges and concessions over the exploration, development and utilization of fossil fuels and uranium in the region.
However, the House version was adopted regarding the annual block grant. This allows the national government to provide an annual block grant equivalent to 5 percent of the net ational Internal Revenue collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the net collection of the Bureau of Customs.
Police, military
The Bangsamoro region’s police and military will still be under the control of the national government and its Shari’ah or Islamic law, tribal and traditional, and other relevant laws are in consonance with the 1987 Constitution.
It also provides for the creation of a Shari’ah high court, among others, and its powers. The measure provides for the addition of Shari’ah high, district and circuit courts to regular courts within the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro and confers on the Bangsamoro Parliament the power to enact laws on personal, family and property law jurisdiction.
Shari’ah courts may also enact laws on commercial, other civil action not provided for under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, and on minor crimes punishable by Ta’zir under Shari’ah law.
The committee also settled differences in the sections of Article XVII, which provide conditions for amendments and revisions to the proposed law. Congress may propose amendments or revisions, and the enacted changes shall become effective upon approval by a majority vote of qualified voters in the region in a plebiscite called for the purpose.
Plebiscite in November
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, cochairman of the panel, said the plebiscite for the proposed BBL may be held in November.
Once the measure is ratified through a plebiscite, President Duterte could start appointing members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) by early next year, he said.
As the ratification of the proposed law deems offices of the ARMM abolished, the BTA shall be tasked with scheduling the gradual phasing out of the concerned offices.
Zubiri said the parliamentary elections for the new region may be held in 2022 along with the national elections.
With Kezhia Maglasang