House ratifies bicam report of Bangsamoro Organic law

July 24, 2018

The House of Representatives, now under Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga Tuesday ratified the bicameral conference committee report of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

The ratification was delayed by one day as Arroyo's allies ousted Speaker Pantaleon  Alvarez of Davao del Norte.

This prevented President Rodrigo Duterte from reporting during his third State of the Nation Address (SoNA) Monday the signing into law of the BOL as only the Senate ratified the peace bill.

“For today, we must get the Bangsamoro Organic Law ratified,” said Arroyo before the House began its session.

Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. presided over the session during the ratification Tuesday of the BOL after hearing no objection.

Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan, a member of the bicameral conference committee, welcomed the passage of the BBL.

“Bearing in mind what future Moro generations need, we have done to the utmost all we can to make sure that whatever the final form the BBL takes, Moros will have something better than the status quo that is the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao). ” said Sangcopan.

The BOL has an  80-member parliament where 75 percent of the national taxes will go to Bangsamoro region and the remaining 25 percent will be left to the central government.

This was agreed upon under the reconciled provisions of House Bill (HB) No. 6475 and Senate Bill (SB) No. 1717 or BOL which would create the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), replacing ARMM.

The 28-member bicameral conference committee on Wednesday night last week has approved the final version of the BOL, formerly Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which would have greater regional government, a parliament, fiscal autonomy, and justice system and that can withstand constitutional scrutiny before the Supreme Court (SC).

The new Bangsamoro region would be headed by a chief minister and a ceremonial leader called Wali.

Under its structural government, the BARMM would have a parliament of 80 members composed of 50 percent party representatives, 40 percent district representatives, and 10  percent sectoral representatives.

This include also a provision guaranteeing two reserved seats for “non-Moro indigenous peoples and settler communities."

The proposed law grants an annual block grant of 5 percent share of the national internal revenue or an estimated P59 billion to be given without any conditions to the Bangsamoro region.

The Bangsamoro region’s police and military will still be under the control of the national government and its Shari'ah or Islamic law, tribal and traditional, and other relevant laws will be implemented in consonance with the 1987 Constitution.

Except from energy-producing bodies of water like Lake Lanao that would be handled jointly by the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Bangsamoro region, the latter would oversee all inland bodies of water.

The coverage of the region includes current ARMM provinces such as Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur while waiting for a regional plebiscite.

The regional plebiscite will include six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and 39 barangays of North Cotabato for inclusion provided a favorable majority vote.

The chartered cities of Cotabato and Isabela are also subject of the plebiscite for inclusion in the proposed region.

Lawmakers said the plebiscite for the new Bangsamoro region would be held not earlier than 90 days and not later than 150 days since President Duterte signs the measure into law. DMS