Bangsamoro bill proposes creation of anti-graft body

DAVAO CITY—A bill creating an anti-corruption body has been filed at the Bangsamoro Parliament as the fledgling autonomous region gradually crafts important codes and legislations to cement its authority over the Filipino Muslims in the south.

The bill creating the Bantaykorupsyon Office was filed last week in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim Parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The office shall be the primary authority in investigating complaints involving graft and corruption against any public official and employees of the Bangsamoro Government and its constituent local government units, as well as their co-principals, accomplices, and accessories from the private sector, if any, the Bangsamoro Information Office said.

The proposal was labeled Parliament Bill 67 and was authored by Member of Parliament (MP) Mohammad S. Yacob.

Yacob quoted the pronouncements of Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in explaining on why the anti-corruption body should be established by the Bangsamoro government.

“The chief minister believes that only through moral governance can our government be truly set in the teachings of Islam that is to enjoin good and forbidding evil,” Yacob stated on the bill’s explanatory note.

He said moral governance refers to the set of rules, practices, and processes “completely devoid of all the evils of graft and corruption, and explicitly driven by the moral principles of utmost dedication, devotion, honesty, justice, and integrity.”

“The bill shall be an effective deterrent and avenue for the path to a graft and corruption free Bangsamoro Government,” Yacob said.

“In order to guarantee moral governance and the fight against corruption, it is imperative that the BTA Parliament pass this act into law creating a special office under the Office of the Chief Minister that will oversee this effort,” he added.

Meanwhile, an online petition that would request President Duterte to certify as urgent the pending bills for the extension of the Bangsamoro transition in Congress, has registered a total of 322,409 signatures as of the weekend.

The Mindanao People’s Caucus, a member of the network of organizations advocating for the extension, said the number of signatures was overwhelming “considering that the signature campaign was started barely two weeks.”

The CSO Movement for Moral Governance and the Mindanao Peoples Caucus initiated the campaign and disclosed “netizens from as far as Abra, Benguet, Bohol and Antique have signed the petition in a massive show of support to the peace process and in solidarity for the Bangsamoro people.”

The groups said the signature campaign has gained support from academic institutions like the Ateneo de Davao University, Ateneo de Zamboanga University and Xavier University, which established signature booths in their respective campuses.

Dr. Habib Macaayong, president of the Mindanao State University (MSU) has brought the MSU system into the full support to the call to extend the transition period. The MSU has 11 campuses across Mindanao and Dr. Macaayong has encouraged students to participate in the on-line petition and make their views be heard.

The MPC said students from Cotabato City “have also mobilized their own ranks to gather as many signatures as possible online.” Dr. Sema Delna, president of the Cotabato City State Polytechnic College, has also encouraged students to make their views be heard.

“We will work night and day to reach our 1-million target. We hope through this effort, we will be able to get the listening ears, not only of the President, but also the honorable legislators in Congress,” said Maudi Maadil, campaign officer of MPC.