ARMM’s financial woes

Gov. Parouk S. Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) went to the budget hearing of the House of Representatives Friday with high hopes of getting the money needed to help the region get to its feet. The result was the opposite, however. He had learned earlier that the bud-get he had proposed for approval to the Department of Budget and Management had been slashed by 50 per- cent. At the budget hearing of the congressional budget committee, he received no good news that his proposed budget would be increased, but that within the framework of a supposed cash-strapped government, the slashed budget would even be cut further. Parouk's dilemma now is, how can there be development in the ARMM region with very little money from the government, and how can there be peace without development in the conflicted area where poverty is identified as a major cause of the conflict in Mindanao?

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Parouk had recommended a 2003 budget of P10.49 billion, allocated as follows: P4.183 billion for personnel services; P2.007 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses; P3.939 billion for capital outlay, and P.363 billion for automatic appropriation. But DBM determined the 2003 budget ceiling for ARMM at P5.585 billion, which is P1.829 million higher than the budget allocation of ARMM for the current fiscal year. This does not take into consideration the result of the plebiscite held in August 2001 where one province, Basilan, and one city, Marawi, voted to become part of ARMM. According to Parouk, "in simple mathematical terms, the jurisdiction of ARMM increased by 50 percent, while the DBM is proposing a minimal budget increase." In effect, DBM's budget for ARMM is just slightly enough to pay for ARMM's 20,000 employees.

The bulk of the proposed capital outlay budget of P3.936 billion, according to Parouk, would be used to fund the key strategic infrastructure projects totaling P2.4 billion. The remaining P600 million will be used to support the delivery of basic health, education and livelihood projects.

So if ARMM's budget is good only for salaries, what can ARMM accomplish? What will happen to the development projects of Mindanao? How can ARMM go into development research and implementation without money? As it is, the Organization of Islamic Conference has not yet given funding to ARMM, but only pledges. Where will the governor get money to fund projects he would like to be developed in his region which he passionately wants to develop? This is a dilemma for the governor.

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In his address before the congressional committee, he stated statistics on his region which has a population of about 3.5 million:

• ARMM is the poorest region in the country with its component provinces topping the list of the poorest provinces in the Philippines. (These provinces are Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Marawi.) At the end of 2001, the region's poverty rate at 68.7 percent is the highest in the country. Parouk said this mean that for every 10 persons in the region, seven live below the poverty line. Nearly half of the barangays do not have access to electricity. Only 29 percent of households have access to safe and potable water and only 10 percent have access to sanitary toilets. ARMM is at least 40 percent below the socio-economic indices of the Mindanao, which is much lower compared to the rest of the country.

• Infant and maternal mortality in the region is the highest in the country, registering the lowest literacy rate, not because the children are not interested in getting an education but because their staying in school means more expenses for the family. "Whatever is left of the social capital in the ARMM is slowly but surely being decimated," said Parouk.

• The extreme lack of physical infrastructure such as farm to market roads, small irrigation facilities and post-harvest facilities, contributes to the slow progress in building economic capital in the ARMM. To this day the ARMM economy is still dependent on subsistence agriculture and fishing activities – "a sure formula," said Parouk, "for perpetuating poverty."

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Parouk mentioned President Macapagal-Arroyo's directives to national line agencies "to fully support the peace and development efforts in Mindanao. She has very correctly pointed to poverty as being one of the root causes of the conflicts in Mindanao. These conflicts in turn perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty. Poor communities have become fertile breeding and training grounds for criminal elements and religious extremists that sow violence and terror not only in the Muslim communities but also elsewhere in Mindanao."

Parouk said there will be "no shortcuts to economic growth or quick fixes to the region's problems. The Philippines will be unable to achieve a sustained social development and equitable growth for as long as the peace and order situation in the ARMM remains as it is today".

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"Social and economic exclusion is the root cause of conflict," said Parouk. "The solution lies in implementing a development strategy that is both socially and economically inclusive. Poverty in the ARMM must be effectively reduced and the quality of the life of the people improved. We must demonstrate tangible dividends of peace to assuage the general sentiment and perception by the majority of our brothers that the government has reneged on its promise under the peace agreement."

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In his request for the congressional committee to have his budget increased, Parouk invoked RA 9054, which mandates ARMM to receive annual financial assistance from the national government for a period of six years after its approval; this assistance is in addition to the regular annual allotment to fund the regular operation of the region. "This provision was made in recognition of the condition of development in the ARMM as compared to the other regions of the country and the need to undertake massive catch-up measures."

He also called for the implementation of the provisions of Executive Order 125, which provides for the devolution of locally funded programs and projects to ARMM, the devolution of ODA-funded programs and projects to it including counterpart budgets; the creation of an ODA Office in the ARMM; the establishment of a catch-up plan and budget for the ARMM, and the transfer of devolved agencies in Basilan province and Marawi to the ARMM.

Such are the problems besetting Parouk, who plays a major role in the development of peace and development of Muslim Mindanao. Who can help him?

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So if the government does not have money to finance the requirements of ARMM, what will happen when the Philippine government and the MILF enter into a peace agreement that will also require billions and billions of pesos for administration and development?

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