House ratifies Bangsamoro Organic Law
THE HOUSE of Representatives (HoR) ratified on Tuesday the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) after one day’s delay by the sudden leadership change in the chamber.
Deputy Speaker Fredenil H. Castro moved to ratify the bicameral committee report on the draft law when session resumed Tuesday afternoon. A day earlier, before President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s scheduled State of the Nation Address, the Senate ratified the BOL.
Former president Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo, the new House Speaker, said Tuesday in an interview with reporters, “I view my role as Speaker with having a primary specific objective that is to carry out the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and that means for today, we must get the BOL ratified.”
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, for his part, welcomed the House ratification of the BOL.
“I am overjoyed at the House of Representatives’ decision to prioritize the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, making it their first order of business during today’s session despite ongoing concerns in their leadership,” Mr. Zubiri said in a phone message, Tuesday.
“I eagerly await the President’s signature, turning this into law, and it is my hope that this signing will mark a new era of just and dignified peace for our brothers and sisters in Muslim Mindanao,” he added.
Mr. Duterte, in his third report to the Nation, said he needs up to 48 hours to review and sign the BOL.
The BOL establishes the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which shall include existing areas under the ARMM.
Voters in the areas concerned will determine in a plebiscite scheduled later this year whether to approve or reject the BARMM, 90 to 150 days after its signing into law.
The 39 barangays in North Cotabato and six municipalities in Lanao del Norte, which have been included in the proposed Bangsamoro region, may also opt to be included.
A Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will be created with 80 members appointed by the President. Incumbent officials in the regional government shall be included in the BTA until their term ends in June 2019.
The Bangsamoro Government shall be headed by a Chief Minister elected by representatives.
The other half shall be divided into district representatives and sectoral representatives, representing Non-Muslim indigenous peoples, the youth, women, and settler communities, among others.
The Bangsamoro region will also be granted taxation powers with a 75-25 sharing scheme for national taxes collected in the region, in favor of the Bangsamoro.
Further, an annual block grant will automatically be appropriated to the region. The grant is equivalent to 5% of net national revenues collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.