Gov’t to spend billions of funds for creation of Bangsamoro

MANILA, Philippines—The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) may be contributing so little to the country’s national treasury, but the government is willing to pour billions of funds to the region to help create the politically autonomous Bangsamoro entity.

During the House of Representatives ad hoc committee hearing on the Bangsamoro basic law on Tuesday, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the government is willing to spend so much in the name of peace.

This despite the fact that the ARMM, one of the poorest regions in the country, only contributed P1.8 billion in national internal revenue collection in 2013, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares.

The government will also be willing to shoulder the start-up fund of the Bangsamoro through the annual block grant, an automatic appropriation under the budget that will be sourced from the Bangsamoro’s taxes.

“The region is one of the poorest regions. Our role is to focus on a policy or program to allow the ARMM to catch up,” Abad told lawmakers during the hearing attended by the country’s top economic managers.

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad. PHOTO by RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net

Henares added that the peace deal between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which sought the creation of the Bangsamoro entity, will result in increased investment, especially in the region where progress has long been affected by the conflict.

“We believe we’ll save and generate more if there is peace. But as of now we’re only getting P1.8 billion,” Henares said.
Abad said the current administration has allotted the following subsidies to ARMM – P20.5 billion in 2014, P14.8 billion in 2013, P13.2 billion in 2012, and P13.5 billion in 2011.

The government is also committed to giving P17 billion in special development funds in the next seven years, Abad said.

“It’s a good investment not just for the region but for the whole country,” he said.

Under the proposed law, the Bangsamoro will also be provided with an annual block grant, which is an automatic appropriation under the budget of the Bangsamoro.

Government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the block grant will be sourced from 2.4 percent of the taxes collected by the Bangsamoro that will not be poured into local government units.

But the idea of giving funds to Bangsamoro defeats the purpose of giving the region political autonomy, former national treasurer and now Social Justice Watch lead convenor Leonor Briones said.

“If you have the situation that you can spend the budget as you desire but you have to get the funding from the national government, that is not fiscal autonomy. It is one half fiscal autonomy in spending but dependency in the matter of revenue raising,” she said in the hearing.

Briones said the public should at least know how much money they are shouldering for the creation of the Bangsamoro.

“We believe that Bangsamoro has to be given  fiscal autonomy but also we believe the citizens who are going to pay for the operations of the Bangsamoro for the next 10 years will really know what we’re giving up for our Muslim brothers and sisters,” Briones said.

Ferrer said the block grant seeks to provide the Bangsamoro the resources to stand up on its feet. She said in five years’ time, the block grant will be deducted with the earnings from the taxes imposed by the Bangsamoro government.

“All income generated from the new taxes shall be deducted from the annual block grant starting on the fourth year of its operation. This is for less dependency from the government as soon as the Bangsamoro is able to generate income of their own,” Ferrer said

The recently submitted Bangsamoro bill seeks to implement the peace pact signed between the Philippine government and the MILF, which hopes to end decades of Muslim secessionist movement in the region.

Once the bill is passed by Congress, the law must be ratified by a plebiscite for the creation of a Bangsamoro political entity to replace the ARMM.

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