MANILA -PIA – The government is not ‘over-financing’ the proposed Bangsamoro regional government or even the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), especially if we compare the projected Bangsamoro budget with the funds received by other regions from the national government.
Government peace panel chair Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, in a press conference in Malacañang, said that the P35 billion that the government proposes to give the Bangsamoro in its first year is only half of what is being spent by the government in the National Capital Region.
“Today, the ARMM gets about P15, 000 per capita subsidy from the national government. Compare that to the P34, 000 per capita that Metro Manilans get from the national budget,” Ferrer pointed out. “It’s ‘imperial Manila’ that gets the biggest share, if you want to put it that way.” The per capita subsidy is the average amount that goes to each resident in the region. It is computed by adding all the national funds that go to the region and dividing the sum by the population.
Other regions which receive higher per capita income than the ARMM are the Cordillera, CARAGA and Regions 4-B and 8, according to estimates of the Department of Budget. Per capita in the Cordillera Administrative Region is at P20, 500 while the three other regions’ per capita subsidy ranges from P16, 000 to P17, 000.
Even with the P8-11 billions new money that will go to the Bangsamoro if it is established in 2016, per capita in the Bangsamoro would increase to only about P18, 000, said Coronel-Ferrer.
The other regions are expected to similarly enjoy increases as well, if a new appropriations law is passed this year.
Referring to the estimated P35 to P36 billion budget that the Bangsamoro will get in its first year of operation, it’s not really big,” according to Senen Bacani, former agriculture secretary and panel member. “National funds allocated to the ARMM regional government today is already P25 billion.
Department of Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, who was also present at the press briefing, affirmed that the Bangsamoro will only receive P36.8 billion, contrary to previous allegations that it will receive P75 billion on its first year.
The DBM’s estimated P36.8 billion that would be received by the Bangsamoro in 2016 include the estimated P2 billion share of the Bangsamoro region from national taxes collected from the region which will be retained in the region.
“Ito ang nasa batas, eh (This is what the law says),” Abad stressed. “So kailangan lang nila pag-aralan yung batas at ito yung nakasaad doon sa batas, itong P36.8 billion (They just have to study the proposed law, and the law says it’s only P36.8 billion).”
The proposed budget includes P1 billion for the transition of the ARMM regional government to the Bangsamoro government; P7 billion special development fund for the first year, with P2 billion every year in the next five years earmarked for infrastructure development and social services; and P26.8 billion estimated annual block grant in 2016 which will be used for the salaries of teachers and health workers, all educational and health services, and economic development.
During the press briefing, Ferrer also clarified that the powers and authorities of constitutional bodies like the Commission on Audit (COA), Commission on Elections (Comelec), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and Civil Service Commission (CSC) will not be diminished.
These agencies will operate like regional offices or as supplementary offices in the Bangsamoro that would help strengthen the system of checks and balances in the region.
Ferrer also reiterated that the proposed BBL does not provide for automatic integration of armed fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, but they could apply and need to go through the rigorous standard hiring processes applied by the AFP and the PNP.
“Our biggest problem has been the misrepresentation of the actual provisions that you would find in the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law),” Ferrer admitted. “[But] we have been consistent with what we’ve been saying as to what exactly are written in the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).” (OPAPP)
