Lawmakers, Finance Execs Back Fiscal Autonomy for Bangsamoro

Manila – Legislators and Cabinet officials in the finance sector expressed firm support to the provisions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law or House Bill 4994 on funding and revenues for the future Bangsamoro region so that it can exercise fiscal autonomy as envisioned in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, catch-up in development, and boost the country’s economy.‎

“That is why we are pursuing this Bangsamoro Basic Law because we believe that we will save more if there’s peace and we will generate more if there’s peace,” underscored Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares during Tuesday’s hearing of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro at the House of Representatives. Said hearing was the third in ‎a series of marathon meetings on the BBL.

Department of Budget Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad, on his part, conveyed that while resource persons from various government agencies are invited by Congress in reviewing the Bangsamoro bill, the proposed law which is “submitted by the executive (to Congress for passage) is the national government’s position”.

Abad shared that the DBM was consulted, and it concurred on the “possibility and reasonableness” of providing “annual block grants” for the future Bangsamoro region. Under the draft BBL, the annual block grant for the Bangsamoro will be automatically appropriated. For the budget year immediately following the year the BBL takes effect, the amount of the annual block grant shall be equivalent to four percent (4%) of the net national internal revenue collection of the BIR, less the internal revenue allotment of local government units.

According to Abad, the 2015 budget proposed for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is about P 24.3 billion, while the future annual block grant for the proposed Bangsamoro government according to the 4 percent calculation will amount to P 27 billion.

On the part of the lawmakers, Maguindanao 1st District and Cotabato City Representative Bai Sandra Sema said that there can be improved revenue collections in the autonomous region when there is peace in Mindanao. “How much is going (to be gained) let’s say for peace in Mindanao? I think we can relate it to that,” she said.

Likewise, Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, who chairs the Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro said that “we are giving more fiscal autonomy to them because we are really putting up a Bangsamoro entity with more powers than ARMM had. There is a new dawn, new hopes being tried here.”

Rodriguez and Partylist Rep. Silvestre Bello III of 1-BAP shared support to the devolution of powers for fiscal autonomy of the future Bangsamoro. According to Rodriguez, “justice is relative for some sectors and the justice being defined now is giving affirmative action for those neglected for so long.”

Revenues of the Bangsamoro

Meanwhile, University of the Philippines Prof. Leonor M. Briones also expressed support to giving fiscal autonomy for the future Bangsamoro. However, she also urged clear understanding on the financial aspect of the Bangsamoro bill, specifically on the grants or budget calculations for the future autonomous region.

According to the Bangsamoro bill, the sources of revenue of the Bangsamoro government shall include among others, taxes including additional taxes beyond those already devolved to the ARMM such as capital gains tax, donor’s tax, estate tax, and documentary stamp tax provided all elements are in the Bangsamoro area; fees and charges; annual block grant; loans, whether foreign or domestic, which the Bangsamoro Government is authorized to contract.

The Bangsamoro will also have a share in the government revenues derived from the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources through the following shares: 100 percent of revenues for non-metallic minerals; 75 percent for metallic minerals; and 50 percent for fossil fuels and uranium. Other sources of revenues include: Bangsamoro Government bills, bonds, notes, debentures; Overseas Development Assistance; grants and donations; and share in the GOCCs operating in the Bangamoro. Moreover, a Special Development Fund (SDF) will also be established for the rehabilitation of the region which has been affected by conflict.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles, Government of the Philippines (GPH) Peace Panel Chair Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, and panel member Senen Bacani also joined the third ad hoc committee hearing as resource persons on the Bangsamoro bill.

Coronel-Ferrer shared that the GPH Panel ensured consultations with the Cabinet during the negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and during the drafting by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission of the BBL. She said they were “very much on the loop during the cabinet meetings that were held with reference to the progress of the different provisions of the agreement.”

Bacani stressed that “No less than the framers of the 1987 Philippine Constitution under Article 10 sought to strengthen local autonomy by making available resources to the local government units’ funds to finance their programs and projects.” He added that “the privileges already enjoyed by the local government units within the Bangsamoro under existing laws shall not be diminished” including their internal revenue allotment (IRA) from the national government. Meanwhile, the annual block grants to the Bangsamoro region “are similar to the IRA being granted to the local government units.”

Auditing of Bangsamoro

Auditing, conduct of elections, and welfare of civil servants in the current ARMM regional government were also tackled during the hearing on Tuesday afternoon with officials from constitutional commissions in attendance, namely from the Commission on Audit (COA), Commission on Elections (COMELEC), and the Commission on Civil Service (CSC).

Rep. Rodriguez affirmed that “no provision of this Bangsamoro bill can oust powers” of constitutional commissions. “There will be no diminution of powers, not even a single inch,” he said.

He posited that while the Bangsamoro will create its Bangsamoro auditing body, the powers of COA will “reign supreme” and “there is just a layer (of auditing) because we are devolving powers.”

 Source: PCOO, www.opapp.gov.ph

Image Credit: www.rappler.com