MANILA, Philippines — The Bicameral Conference Committee has agreed to increase the share of the Bangsamoro in government tax revenues in its approved bill for the organic law for the Bangsamoro.
The Senate and House panels have have reconciled their respective versions of the proposed Bangsamoro basic law after six days of deliberations, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said in a media release.
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The 75-25 wealth-sharing term was among the highlights of the reconciled version of the landmark measure. This would be an additional five percent for the Bangsamoro compared with the current 70 percent that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is receiving from national internal revenue taxes, fees and charges.
The reconciled version of the BBL also incorporates Shari'ah or Islamic law in regional courts within the Bangsamoro.
This means that regular Bangsamoro courts will be allowed to implement Shari'ah exclusively to cases involving Muslims, and at the same time, complying with the Constitution. Tribal laws will also be applicable to disputes among indigenous peoples within the Bangsamoro.
The bicam also approved the automatic allocation of the annual block grant for the Bangsamoro, which is equivalent to five percent of the net national internal revenue.
The Bangsamoro will also receive P5 billion annually from the national government for 10 years, or a total of P50 billion for the entire implementation. This fund will be used for rehabilitation of conflict-affected areas in the region.
House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas (Ilocos Norte), chair of the House panel, noted that they want to bring the reconciled version of the BBL before the Supreme Court to make sure that it complies with the 1987 Constitution.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who chairs the Senate panel, meanwhile, said that the organic law will foster peace and development in the Bangsamoro region, as well as the whole country.
“So when the guns go silent in the island of Mindanao, that will be to the advantage of the whole Filipinos living north, south, west, and east of our country,” Zubiri said.
Meanwhile, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) expressed concern over the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as stated in the proposed law.
"Explained more concretely, the ARMM is structurally unitary in character, while the BARMM is essentially parliamentary in a unitary national governmental setting," the MILF said in a statement released Monday.
Noting the outstanding differences between the existing ARMM and the proposed BARMM, the MILF said that it will not make major decisions on the matter until consultations are held involving the group's political and military leaders.
The BBL is meant to implement the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro, the peace agreement that the government and the MILF signed in 2014.
Fariñas, however, thanked the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front after the approval of the organic law on Wednesday.
"To the [Bangsamoro Transition Commission] members of the MILF and the MNLF, your smiles gave us strength each day. To the BTC members of the MILF and the MNLF, thank you for your patience," the House panel leader said.