Initial budget for Bangsamoro body out this week

MANILA, Philippines - The initial budget for the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) will be released early this week.

The government gave the assurance yesterday as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) questioned the delay that forced them to work without funds and office.

“The release is in process. Government has rules in releasing funds which needed time to work out for a new organization that still has no staff-accounting systems,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said in a statement released by the Palace.

Deles said her office, along with the Office of the President, had been working closely with the BTC to set up the needed systems.

In an editorial posted on luwaran.com, the MILF said the delay in the release of the P100-million budget could have been caused by red tape and the upcoming elections.

The BTC is tasked to draft the law creating the Bangsamoro entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The 15-man body was formed through an executive order issued by President Aquino last December.

The law will be certified as urgent by Aquino and will have to be approved by the ARMM residents through a plebiscite.

Earlier, the MILF said the government should extend all necessary logistical support to the commission “to fulfill its historic mission” of writing the law for the Bangsamoro.

“Be that as it may, the budget for the BTC should be treated as a special case that requires special attention. Without a budget, it cannot move and discharge its duties and it cannot deliver,” the group said.

The MILF said the President need not intervene in the issue since the concerned agencies could handle it.

For now, the MILF believes the BTC should help itself pending the release of its funds.

Among the groups that provided assistance to the BTC was the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue which shouldered some of the commission’s logistical requirements. – With Alexis Romero