Ex-nat’l treasurer raises Charter issues on Bangsamoro basic law

MANILA, Philippines—The country’s former national treasurer raised constitutional issues on the recently submitted Bangsamoro basic law, citing the Bangsamoro Commission on Audit as going against the mandate of the national auditing body.

During the House of Representatives ad hoc committee hearing on the Bangsamoro basic law on Tuesday, Social Watch Justice lead convenor Leonor Briones said the law creates a Bangsamoro Commission on Audit, which will audit all public funds of the Bangsamoro government.

The Bangsamoro law also directs all the vouchers of the Bangsamoro government to the Bangsamoro COA.

Leonor Briones. PHOTO from Facebook account

But Briones said the Constitution grants the national Commission on Audit (COA) to handle all the country’s vouchers.

“The Constitution specifically provides that all vouchers will go to the national COA, ” Briones said.

Under the law, the Bangsamoro COA will have the “power, authority and duty to examine, audit and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenue and receipts of, and expenditures and uses of funds and property , owned or held in trust by, or pertaining to the public funds utilized by the Bangsamoro.”

Government peace panel member Senen Bacani said it should still be the national COA to determine if there is “conflict of interpretation” in its mandate with the Bangsamoro COA.

The law also states that the Bangsamoro COA’s “power, authority and duty shall be without prejudice to the power, authority and duty of the Commission on Audit to examine, audit and settle all accounts, pertaining to the revenues and the use of funds and property owned and held in trust by any government instrumentality…”

The recently submitted Bangsamoro bill seeks to implement the peace pact signed between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, 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 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

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