P65.6-B budget for Bangsamoro 2020 approved
EXACTLY eight months to the day the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) was inaugurated, the Bangsamoro Parliament on Friday night approved a budget of P65.6 billion for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for 2020.
Approved on third and final reading was BTA-Cabinet Bill No. 31 entitled “An Act appropriating funds for the operation of the Bangsamoro Government from January 1 to December 31, 2020, and other purposes.”
Of 54 members present, 48 voted yes, one voted no and five abstained. The BARMM’s Bureau of Public Information (BPI) has yet to release the voting details.
The BPI said Ebrahim signed into law on the same day the first Bangsamoro Appropriations Act (BAA) which contains the priority plans, projects and programs of the Bangsamoro Government.
It quoted Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod ‘Al Haj
Murad’ Ebrahim as saying: “Hindi ito para sa akin, hindi para sa mga ministers. (This is not for me. This is not for the ministers) This is for the Bangsamoro people.”
He said it was “a fruit of the more than five decades of struggle of the Bangsamoro.”
“Behind these numbers are the blood, sweat, and tears of our people. We must, by all means, give justice to the sacrifices of our people. We can do so by using our respective ministries’ and offices’ budget without an iota of greed and corruption,” said Ebrahim, who, along with other BTA members, swore on the Koran at the inauguration of the BARMM on March 29, 2019. The BTA members were sworn into office by President Rodrigo Duterte on February 22, 2019 after the ratification of RA 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM. Three days later, on February 26, at the turnover rites from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the BARMM, Ebrahim vowed a government that will “really be free of all the ills of governance.”
Highest to lowest At present, the BARMM has 19 ministries and offices with approved budgets: the Office of the Chief Minister; Office of the Wali; Bangsamoro Transition Authority; Bangsamoro Human Rights Commission; and the ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform; Basic, Higher and Technical Education; Environment, Natural Resources and Energy; Finance, Budget and Management; Health; Indigenous People’s Affairs; Interior and Local Government; Labor and Employment; Human Settlements and Development; Public Order and Safety; Public Works; Science and Technology; Social Services and Development; Trade, Investment and Tourism; and Transportation and Communication.
The BPI did not provide a breakdown on the budget but MindaNews was able to obtain a document on the amounts approved for the different agencies.
Seven of these ministries and offices are getting budgets of over a billion pesos each: the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education got the biggest chunk of the budget pie with P19.056 billion; followed by the Office of the Chief Minister with P7.922-B; the Ministry of Public Works with P4.089-B; Health with P3.069-B; the Bangsamoro Transition Authority with P2.591-B; Social Services and Development with P2.033-B; and Interior and Local Government with P1.354-B.
Seven other offices are getting budgets of over P100 million but under one billion pesos: these are the ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform with P986.810-M; Finance, Budget and Management with P454.049-M; Environment, Natural Resources and Energy with P440.483M; Trade, Investment and Tourism with P279.828-M; Transportation and Communication with P214.911-M; Labor and Employment with P193.213-M; Science and Technology with P164.560-M. Five agencies have budgets under P100 million: the ministries of Indigenous People’s Affairs with P99.635-M; Human Settlements and Development with P94.935-M; Bangsamoro Human Rights Commission with P92.262-M; Public Order and Safety with P86.806-M; and the Office of the Wali with the lowest budget at P27.809 million.