MANILA, March 16 (PNA) — The funding support that the National Government will extend to the proposed Bangsamoro region will help lift some of the poorest provinces in the Philippines out of poverty as well as contribute to lasting peace and rule of law in the area, Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said.
Speaking on the funding issues surrounding the proposed Bangsamoro region, Abad said, “We must consider the prevailing conditions in the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). These include the 54 percent poverty incidence in the first semester of 2014, and the 81.5 percent simple literacy rate in 2008. These marks are one of the lowest in the country, so the region requires strong and consistent funding support to lift it out of poverty.”
Three ARMM provinces—Sulu, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao—are among the poorest in the Philippines. Under the 2015 Budget Priorities Framework, Sulu was categorized as a Focus Geographical Area (FGA) with high poverty magnitude while Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao were determined to be FGAs with high poverty incidence.
Furthermore, the continuing conflict in the area has exacerbated the conditions of poverty there, with estimated damages amounting to Php20 billion per year from 1970-2001, including damage to property and livelihood. Additionally, there were an estimated 120,000 human casualties between 1970 and 1996.
In a recent release by the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process (OPAPP), GPH Peace Panel member Senen Bacani said, “For development to catch up with poverty in the Bangsamoro region, the Government sees fresh funds in rebuilding these war-torn areas as a tool for strengthening the peace.”
Meanwhile, Abad said, “The Administration is working together with the people of the Bangsamoro to create a region that can take full advantage of our country’s many opportunities for growth. As such, we’re doing what we can to support the Bangsamoro and help them become a major economic hub by providing them with the appropriate budgetary support.”
The proposed funding, based on the provisions laid out in the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), amounts to approximately Php35 billion in the first year of the new Bangsamoro region. This amount includes a one-time-only fund of Php1 billion for the proposed Bangsamoro Transition Authority towards organizing their systems and structure; a Special Development Fund aimed at rehabilitating the region, amounting to Php7 billion in the first year; and an Annual Block Grant (ABG), amounting to four percent of the net national internal revenue (NIR) collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) less the internal revenue allotment (IRA) of local government units (LGUs). This ABG is actually 2.4 percent of the BIR’s net NIR collection, estimated at Php27 billion.
It must be reiterated that the existing ARMM regional government is already receiving an annual subsidy (Php24.3 billion in 2015), but the subsidy will be called a block grant under the BBL. Likewise, this proposed block grant, while automatically appropriated to the Bangsamoro Government, will still be subject to the safeguards and transparency measures that govern other budgetary releases. Likewise, the BBL, if passed, would create an internal auditing body that shall keep track of government expenditure. This body will not diminish the Commission on Audit’s power to examine, audit, and settle all accounts.
DBM Assistant Secretary for Budget Preparation and Execution Tina Rose Marie Canda said, “Any funds that the National Government would release to a new Bangsamoro government shall thereafter be appropriated by their parliament. We expect it to be done in the same way that we judiciously craft our General Appropriations Act each year, following much preparation and deliberation.”
Additionally, the Bangsamoro government would be entitled to 75 percent of taxes, fees, and charges collected by the National Government within the region, a 5 percent increase from the amount ARMM already receives. For a period of ten years, the Bangsamoro Government would retain the 25% share of the National Government.
Abad said, “The public can rest assured knowing that, once the figures have been finalized based on the provisions of the draft Basic Law, we will make the accurate information available.”
The Bangsamoro is the proposed autonomous political entity that will replace the ARMM, as provided in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in March 2014 between the National Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). (PNA)