Proposed BOL allocation not included in 2019 budget

MANILA, Philippines — Even if the Duterte administration is banking on the immediate passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in Congress, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has not included it in its 2019 budget.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the proposed P100-billion allocation for BOL was not considered since the measure was not passed yet when they crafted the 2019 proposed national budget pegged at P3.757 trillion.

“None yet. (The law) has not been ratified. (It is still) subject to referendum,” Diokno told the weekly Kapihan sa Café Adriatico yesterday.

“We will address that when the law is passed and finally approved and ratified,” he added.

Diokno mentioned the government can tap some P32.4 billion supposedly incorporated under the budget of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). 

The Senate approved the proposed Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao early this week.

The signing of the ratified version by President Duterte was stalled during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday due to the leadership issues at the House of Representatives.

The Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) said the Office of the President is still waiting for the copy to be signed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III.  

The enrolled bill was already signed by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Duterte has vowed during his SONA that he will sign the BOL within 48 hours after it was signed and ratified by Congress.

Under the BOL, the new autonomous region gets a 75 percent share of the total national taxes collected within its territory. It will also receive a block grant equivalent to five percent share of the net national collections of the bureaus of Internal Revenue and of Customs from the third fiscal year immediately following the current fiscal year.

The revenue share for the block grant, earlier estimated to be about P60 billion, will be reviewed five years after the enactment of the law and every five years thereafter.

Aside from that, BOL also mandates a P50-billion special development fund to be allocated by the national government for conflict-affected communities over a period of 10 years and allows local government units within the Bangsamoro region to continue receiving its internal revenue allotments.

The region will also get all revenues from the exploration, development and utilization of natural resources, including mines and minerals, although the revenues from petroleum, other fossil fuels and uranium from the region will be shared equally by the national government and the Bangsamoro government.

A proposed intergovernmental fiscal policy board shall provide for the sharing of the national government and the Bangsamoro in the income of government-owned and controlled corporations.

The national government is also expected to shoulder the livelihood and other needs of members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its armed wing, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Force; the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)/Bangsamoro Armed Force; and their women’s auxiliary forces through various rehabilitation, reconstruction and development packages as part of the normalization process mandated by the proposed law. –  With Jaime Laude, Jose Rodel Clapano