Senate to scrutinize block grants for Bangsamoro region
The annual block grants in billions of taxpayers’ money was the focus of floor debates as the Senate started deliberating on the merits of the proposed Basic Law for Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR) that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., speaking before students of the University of Perpetual Help in Las Piñas, said while he had reservations on the block grants, he included this controversial feature in his substitute bill so that the Senate can discuss the issue thoroughly.
“Under the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the proposed lump sum appropriation is four percent of the national collections. Until now, nobody has given any explanation why it has to be four percent. Why not two percent? Why not 10 percent?” said Marcos, chairman of the Senate Local Government Committee.
The number, according to Marcos, appears to have been “snatched out of thin air.”
Asked by Sen. Pia S. Cayetano on whether there are guidelines on how the block grants would be spent, Marcos assumed that the Bangsamoro Parliament, which would appropriate the block grants, would be bound by the provisions of the Constitution. Aside from Cayetano, Senators Paolo Benigno “Bam’’ Aquino IV, Teofisto Guingona III and Ralph G. Recto have interpellated Marcos.
Marcos admitted that there are no guidelines provided in the draft BBL as to how the monies would be appropriated prompting him to leave it open for any suggestions from other senators.
“That is going to be a very in-depth and interesting discussion and I wanted to leave it open. It is not because I think that the lump sum appropriations as it is proposed in the Bangsamoro Basic Law is a good one but I left it in so that we could discuss it thoroughly in public for the people to understand the pros and cons of this issue,” Marcos said.
Marcos earlier estimated the annual block grant to be between 32 to 34 billion, which would be automatically appropriated and released to the Bangsamoro government. Under the BLBAR, the amount of the block grant would undergo review four years after the enactment of the law and every five years thereafter.
Marcos believed that it would be a case of shortsightedness if the national government would simply give the Bangsamoro government an equivalent of four percent of the net national revenue collections of each year without any guidelines or requisites in terms of method, areas and sectors for its appropriation.
He told Cayetano that he has started creating a similar formula that would clearly state how the appropriation would be implemented to ensure that funds would be allotted to critical sectors identified as necessary in the provision of services to the Bangsamoro people.
The BBL was drafted by the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP). But Marcos found the BBL draft inadequate to cover the 13 tribes, indigenous peoples (IPs), Christians and other settlers in Muslim Mindanao. To make the peace measure inclusive, he submitted a substitute BLBAR measure after hearing all sides, including that Moro National Liberation Front who were eased out of the talks.
For peace
Marcos expressed optimism that the MILF will not wage war with the government again despite a clash of ideas on how to achieve peace in Mindanao.
“I’m confident that despite whatever differences that we have, I believe it will not lead to secessionism. The MILF will not go to war. They want peace,” he told his student audience at the “Youth Forum on the Bangsamoro Basic Law.”
“In my dealings with the MILF, we’re talking about the substitute bill, I truly believe that whatever objection that they may have, the bill will be explained well to them,” Marcos added.
“They don’t want to continue fighting. They want the lives that are normal and within the mainstream of the Philippine society,” he continued.
He described the MILF as the government’s real partner in achieving peace in Mindanao.
“The MILF and even the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) are desirous for peace. However, I cannot say with other groups such as private armed groups and Abu Sayyaf Group which rejected all forms of peace with government,” Marcos added.