By Vanne Elaine Terrazola and Hannah Torregoza
Senate President Vicente Sotto III believes the new Bangsamoro region will be a “good” test case for a proposed shift to a federal form of government and see if federalism would work.
“Perhaps, magandang experiment itong Bangsamoro Organic Act. Ditomakikitanatin, kaya hindi natin kailangan apurahin yung federalism. Makikita natin sa Bangsamoro kung maganda [ang federalism] dahil federal type naito, eh (Perhaps, the Bangsamoro Organic Act is a good experiment. That’s why we should not rush federalism. We will see if federalism is effective since the Bangsamoro region is already a federal type),” Sotto said in press briefing Thursday.
After almost two weeks of debates, the Congress bicameral committee approved the reconciled version of the bill that is seen to address conflicts and violent extremism in Mindanao.
From the original Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the bill was amended to the proposed “Bangsamoro Organic Law” to adhere to the 1987 Constitution.
He said the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR) should be given two years to determine how the Bangsamoro government works and how the region’s budget was spent.
“More or less, we’ll have a good idea already of how a federal region is doing, and how work is being conducted,” he said.
“Magandang makita natin ang epekto nito at mangyayari dito (It would be wise to see first what will happen to the Bangsamoro region),” he noted.
If the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) fails to address hostilities in the region, it can be repealed, Sotto added.
Go slow on Federalism
Senators are confidentthe BOL would be able to stand the Supreme Court’s scrutiny.
“We are confident that the provisions of the BBLis compliant with the Constitution,”Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said
“Ito ang natatanging hakbang para sa wakas ay magkaroon nang katuparan ang layunin nating maresolba ang mga ‘di pagkakaunawaan nang sa gayon ay umusad ang kapayapaan at kaunlaran sa Bangsamoro region (This is the only way to finally achieve our aspiration to resolve the conflict so we can finally achieve peace and development in the Bangsamoro region),” Angara said.
While the BOL is not a perfect document, Senator Francis Escudero said he is satisfied with the consolidated version.
“It’s not a perfect document and achieving and fighting for peace is a continuing process,” Escudero said.
But he urged the Duterte administration to go slow on its plan to shift to a federal form of government following the tedious process in crafting the BOL.
“If, over 30 years after ARMM was provided for in the 1987 Constitution – which is our closest experiment with federalism, we are still ‘improving and perfecting’ it, what more a rushed shift to federalism of our entire country? Not to mention how Federalism will impact on the new BBL?” Escudero pointed out.
“After over 30 years, ARMM remains to be the poorest region in the country, despite our experiment with ‘federalism’ in that region. For me, that is enough basis to go slow on federalism in the entire country,” he added.
Escudero said the government’s proposed federalism and the BOL will surely affect the block grant and other monetary grants amounting to about P100 billion a year.
Anti-dynasty provision
But Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon is not confident that the BOL would be as effective as others expect it to be due to the lack of an anti-dynasty provision.
“I am not optimistic that the BBL will result in good governance due to the rejection of my amendment to include an anti-dynasty provision similar to that found in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Reform Law,” Drilon said.
Drilon said he pushed for the inclusion of an anti-political dynasty provision after an Ateneo de Manila University study showed that five of the country’s poorest provinces are in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where political clans are rampant.
But lawmakers questioned why political clans would only apply to the ARMM provinces and not in other regions.
“So instead of blocking the passage of the BBL, I said, okay, even if without an anti-dynasty provision in place. I’m still thinking this might still bring about peace in the region,” said the senator in a radio interview.
The proposed BOL once enacted, will create the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) replacing the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The proposed Bangsamoro region shall have a parliamentary system of government with 80 members. A Chief Minister shall be voted to lead the Bangsamororegion, and two Deputy Chief Ministers from the mainland and island provinces, respectively.
Bangsamoro Transition Commission chair and Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair GhazaliJaafar said they are satisfied with how BOL turned out.
“It may not be a perfect law, but it is good to start with,” Jaafar said as he thanked the bicameral committee.
Zubiri said that the enactment of the BOL will lead to economical development of Mindanao and the country.
“When guns go silent in the island of Mindanao, that would lead to the advantage of every Filipino,” he said.
The region shall have an automatic allocation of the annual block grant, which would be five percent of the internal revenue and customs taxes collected by the national government, or about P60 billion.
Aside from the block grant, further assistance would likewise be provided to the Bangsamoro region such as the special development fund and taxes collected by the Bangsamoro like capital gains tax, donor’s tax, estate tax, and documentary stamp tax.
A 75-25 percent wealth-sharing term in favor of the Bangsamoro was adopted and taxing powers already granted to the ARMM were retained.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III believes the new Bangsamoro region will be a “good” test case for a proposed shift to a federal form of government and see if federalism would work.
“Perhaps, magandang experiment itong Bangsamoro Organic Act. Ditomakikitanatin, kaya hindi natin kailangan apurahin yung federalism. Makikita natin sa Bangsamoro kung maganda [ang federalism] dahil federal type naito, eh (Perhaps, the Bangsamoro Organic Act is a good experiment. That’s why we should not rush federalism. We will see if federalism is effective since the Bangsamoro region is already a federal type),” Sotto said in press briefing Thursday.
After almost two weeks of debates, the Congress bicameral committee approved the reconciled version of the bill that is seen to address conflicts and violent extremism in Mindanao.
From the original Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the bill was amended to the proposed “Bangsamoro Organic Law” to adhere to the 1987 Constitution.
He said the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR) should be given two years to determine how the Bangsamoro government works and how the region’s budget was spent.
“More or less, we’ll have a good idea already of how a federal region is doing, and how work is being conducted,” he said.
“Magandang makita natin ang epekto nito at mangyayari dito (It would be wise to see first what will happen to the Bangsamoro region),” he noted.
If the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) fails to address hostilities in the region, it can be repealed, Sotto added.
Go slow on Federalism
Senators are confidentthe BOL would be able to stand the Supreme Court’s scrutiny.
“We are confident that the provisions of the BBLis compliant with the Constitution,”Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said
“Ito ang natatanging hakbang para sa wakas ay magkaroon nang katuparan ang layunin nating maresolba ang mga ‘di pagkakaunawaan nang sa gayon ay umusad ang kapayapaan at kaunlaran sa Bangsamoro region (This is the only way to finally achieve our aspiration to resolve the conflict so we can finally achieve peace and development in the Bangsamoro region),” Angara said.
While the BOL is not a perfect document, Senator Francis Escudero said he is satisfied with the consolidated version.
“It’s not a perfect document and achieving and fighting for peace is a continuing process,” Escudero said.
But he urged the Duterte administration to go slow on its plan to shift to a federal form of government following the tedious process in crafting the BOL.
“If, over 30 years after ARMM was provided for in the 1987 Constitution – which is our closest experiment with federalism, we are still ‘improving and perfecting’ it, what more a rushed shift to federalism of our entire country? Not to mention how Federalism will impact on the new BBL?” Escudero pointed out.
“After over 30 years, ARMM remains to be the poorest region in the country, despite our experiment with ‘federalism’ in that region. For me, that is enough basis to go slow on federalism in the entire country,” he added.
Escudero said the government’s proposed federalism and the BOL will surely affect the block grant and other monetary grants amounting to about P100 billion a year.
Anti-dynasty provision
But Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon is not confident that the BOL would be as effective as others expect it to be due to the lack of an anti-dynasty provision.
“I am not optimistic that the BBL will result in good governance due to the rejection of my amendment to include an anti-dynasty provision similar to that found in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Reform Law,” Drilon said.
Drilon said he pushed for the inclusion of an anti-political dynasty provision after an Ateneo de Manila University study showed that five of the country’s poorest provinces are in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where political clans are rampant.
But lawmakers questioned why political clans would only apply to the ARMM provinces and not in other regions.
“So instead of blocking the passage of the BBL, I said, okay, even if without an anti-dynasty provision in place. I’m still thinking this might still bring about peace in the region,” said the senator in a radio interview.
The proposed BOL once enacted, will create the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) replacing the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The proposed Bangsamoro region shall have a parliamentary system of government with 80 members. A Chief Minister shall be voted to lead the Bangsamororegion, and two Deputy Chief Ministers from the mainland and island provinces, respectively.
Bangsamoro Transition Commission chair and Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair GhazaliJaafar said they are satisfied with how BOL turned out.
“It may not be a perfect law, but it is good to start with,” Jaafar said as he thanked the bicameral committee.
Zubiri said that the enactment of the BOL will lead to economical development of Mindanao and the country.
“When guns go silent in the island of Mindanao, that would lead to the advantage of every Filipino,” he said.
The region shall have an automatic allocation of the annual block grant, which would be five percent of the internal revenue and customs taxes collected by the national government, or about P60 billion.
Aside from the block grant, further assistance would likewise be provided to the Bangsamoro region such as the special development fund and taxes collected by the Bangsamoro like capital gains tax, donor’s tax, estate tax, and documentary stamp tax.
A 75-25 percent wealth-sharing term in favor of the Bangsamoro was adopted and taxing powers already granted to the ARMM were retained.
No comments:
Post a Comment