Bangsamoro region to get LGU benefits

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangsamoro region will enjoy benefits similar to other local government units such as the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said yesterday.

Ferrer made the clarification during a consultation with local officials of North Cotabato led by Gov. Emmylou Talino Mendoza.

Ferrer said the LGUs under the Bangsamoro region would also benefit from the development projects to be brought by the peace process.

Government peace panel member Senen Bacani, who along with fellow peace panel member Yasmin Busran-Lao joined Ferrer in the consultation, said the 40 percent IRA of LGUs will remain intact.

 â€œThere will be a block grant to the Bangsamoro and this will not be taken from the 40 percent IRA share of the LGUs,” Bacani said.

Bacani said the block grant is contained in the annex on revenue generation and wealth sharing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

He said the block grant is comparable to the IRA of LGUs and it will be sourced from the national revenue collections and released annually by the national government to the Bangsamoro government.

Under the Annex on Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing, the “block grant shall be based on a formula provided in the Bangsamoro Basic Law which in no case shall be less than the last budget received by the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) immediately before the establishment of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.”

Bacani said the annex on revenue generation and wealth sharing further stated that the formula “shall be subject to review by the Central Government and the Bangsamoro Government after 10 years, on the basis of need and actual revenues generated.”

The government peace panel shared that it is working with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Finance (DOF) and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in determining a formula based on estimates of the cost of all devolved functions.