The House appropriations committee has approved the budget provisions for the new Bangsamoro region totaling P56 billion during its first year of operation under the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
In an interview Tuesday, appropriations panel chair Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab said the committee approved all the budget provisions as is but that the funds would still be subject to appropriation by Congress under the General Appropriations Act.
Ungab said what will be automatically appropriated is the annual block grant for the Bangsamoro region.
The grant, equivalent to 4 percent of the net national internal revenue collection sans the internal revenue allotment (IRA), is an automatic appropriation for the Bangsamoro meant to help financially the newly created entity until it is capable of standing on its own feet.
The block grant for the first year of implementation amounts to P26.8 billion, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) matrix of projected Bangsamoro funds submitted to the House appropriations committee.
The other approved funds under the BBL are the special development funds, to be used for the rehabilitation and development of the Bangsamoro, as well as the additional funds for development programs and projects such as road infrastructure in the Bangsamoro autonomous region.
The special development fund amounts to P7 billion for the first year of implementation and P2 billion for the next five years, according to the bill. Meanwhile, the additional funds for Bangsamoro infrastructure will be agreed upon by the regional and national governments.
Ungab also said the panel approved the P1-billion fund for the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to help the interim government with its organizational activities, hiring of personnel, and the exercise of its functions and powers.
The BTA will serve as the interim government until the region elects its Bangsamoro Parliament in 2016.
In all, these development funds, including the Bangsamoro’s 100-percent share in the national government collection in the region, amount to P36.8 billion in its first year of implementation in 2016, Ungab said.
The BBL allows the Bangsamoro government to retain all national government taxes, fees and charges collected in the Bangsamoro region for the first 10 years.
Thereafter, the Bangsamoro government will have a 75-percent share in the national government collections in the region, while the national government will have a 25-percent share.
The total development funds do not even include yet the annual and automatically appropriated Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA). In the case of Bangsamoro, it amounts to P19.8 billion in 2016, according to the DBM matrix.
IRA is the local government unit’s annual share from the proceeds of the national internal revenue taxes. Provinces get 23 percent of the IRA, cities 23 percent, municipalities 34 percent, and barangays (villages) 20 percent, according to the budget department.
In all, the DBM projects a total of P56.6 billion to finance the Bangsamoro’s over-all operation and development in 2016, the DBM matrix shows.
The powerful appropriations committee tackles bills that require funding for its implementation.
The House is set to vote for the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro law that will create a more politically autonomous Bangsamoro region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
This after the ad hoc Bangsamoro committee passed on first reading a version of the bill approved by Malacañang, rousing criticisms that the panel railroaded a mostly Palace version of the bill that seeks to implement a government peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.