Revisions to BBL OK, says Iqbal
“We call on the Filipino people to be very cautious in dealing with these types of reports,” he said.
Julkipli said Opapp had “repeatedly debunked” the issue that the Bangsamoro government would get P75 billion as an initial fund.
The reality, he said, was that the Bangsamoro government would get only P35 billion for the first year, which “does not significantly depart from the current allocation for the ARMM.”
Out of the P35 billion, P1 billion would be allocated for the transition from the ARMM to the Bangsamoro government, Julkipli said.
The Special Development Fund would get P7 billion in the first year of the Bangsamoro government “to allow the poverty-stricken and conflict-affected region to catch up in terms of development through infrastructure build-up and intensified delivery of social services.”
“The P27-billion estimated block grant in 2016 will be used for economic development, payment of salaries for teachers and health workers, and all other educational and health services,” he said.
Julkipli said it was not proper to lump the internal revenue allocations of local governments into the regional government and that coming from national agencies.
“These [funds] are not allocated to the autonomous region per se but are money allotted to the different local government units and the national agencies, respectively. Take these values out of the equation and we will certainly not reach P70 billion,” he said.
Sharia law
Julkipli reiterated that non-Muslims would not be subjected to the Sharia law.
“In terms of the implementation of the (Sharia) law in the Bangsamoro, it will apply to Muslims only. The Sharia courts would not cover non-Muslims as regular courts would still exist in Bangsamoro,” he said.
Julkipli said there would be no creation of agencies that would duplicate the work of the Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections and Civil Service Commission.
“In fact, the draft law is emphatic in articulating that the existence and functioning of these Bangsamoro agencies shall be without prejudice to the powers and duties of the constitutional commissions,” he said.
Julkipli said MILF members would not be automatically integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
He said there was no provision in the BBL that provides for automatic integration.
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