New Bangsamoro bill draft: More powers, funds for Moro region

THE House of Representatives ad hoc Bangsamoro committee will vote on a consolidated amended draft of the Bangsamoro basic bill that will give more powers and funds to the new region than its predecessor law that created the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

This was the assurance of panel chairman Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez as he expressed hopes that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the main beneficiary of the proposed law, would accept a different version of the bill it drafted with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process in a bid to conclude the decades-old conflict.

“We’re giving more political powers and autonomy to the Bangsamoro. (There will be) 58 exclusive powers. Before, there was less than that. There are 12 powers in the Constitution,” Rodriguez said in a press conference about the draft Thursday.

The proposed law now titled “Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region” seeks to repeal the Republic Act 9054, which created the ARMM, and replace the region with a more politically autonomous Bangsamoro region.

The congressman also assured the Bangsamoro region would be awash with cash upon its implementation according to the new draft, citing its annual block grant, social development fund, and other sources of revenue that will help the new region in its development.

“What is more important is we’re giving them more funds. We’ll give them an annual block grant and a special development fund… More in powers and more in funding,” Rodriguez said.

Asked if he thinks the MILF would accept a different version of the bill, he said: “Congress has to look at the bill and not pass it as it is.”
“It’s not possible (to pass it as it is), especially when there are constitutional issues involved. I’m sure the MILF know we cannot just approve some sections which may be unconstitutional,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the committee will prepare two working drafts and consolidate these in a single, comprehensive draft of the Bangsamoro bill.

A cursory look at the chairman’s working draft shows that the national government was actually given additional powers, after the Bangsamoro government were removed of its own auditing, civil service, human rights, election, and Ombudsman bodies. These powers were instead given to the national government and removed from the Bangsamoro’s shared powers.

Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro government was given additional powers over its Islamic banking powers and educational system.

One draft would be called the chairman’s working draft which includes all the provisions Rodriguez as chair deemed necessary to be included in the bill.

The second draft would include the provisions that the Liberal Party and allied parties led by Davao del Norte Rep. Anthony Del Rosario and 19 other lawmakers want to include in the pet legislation of the Aquino administration.

Rodriguez said in the Del Rosario draft of the bill, the supposedly unconstitutional bodies would be retained by simply modifying its names.

Del Rosario also wanted to retain the provision allowing the areas that share a border with the Bangsamoro core territory to join the Bangsamoro region upon a petition of 10 percent of registered voters as long as no petition is allowed after five years. Another version of the proposal wants to terminate petitions after 10 years.

Besides the deletion of the Bangsamoro bodies that he claims usurp the constitutional counterparts, Rodriguez enumerated the following provisions that were in his working draft:

• Changing the title to Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, to make it clear that it is an autonomous region and not a substate

• Removing “Wali” as the Bangsamoro parliament’s ceremonial head because it is only the state which can have a ceremonial figure

• Removing the creation of a Bangsamoro Police Board, which was supposed to be the Bangsamoro’s version of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) which receives complaints on police personnel. It will instead be called the Regional Police Commission under the administration and control of the Napolcom.

• Deleting the opt in provision which allows contiguous areas outside the Bangsamoro core territory to be part of the Bangsamoro territory upon a petition of at least 10 percent of the registered voters and approved by majority of qualified votes in a plebiscite. Lawmakers warned the provision may result in a creeping expansion.

• Amending the provision that grants the Bangsamoro government primary responsibility over public order and safety concerns in the region; according to the draft bill, the Bangsamoro government has joint responsibility with the national government over public order and safety in the Bangsamoro

• Removing the coordination protocols between the Bangsamoro and national government regarding the movement and deployment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the Bangsamoro region. AC