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COTABATO CITY –– The Parliament of the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA) unanimously approved on Wednesday the budget of 75.6 billion pesos for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) next year.
Raissa Jajurie, floor leader of the BTA majority, said that the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education obtained the largest part of the region’s budget with 23.5 billion pesos, followed by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW), 15.7 B; and the Office of the Chief Minister, P10.2B.
Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, who signed the legislation on Wednesday night, previously said that next year’s budget includes the region’s COVID-19 response.
“What sets this financial program apart from last year is the inclusion of efforts toward the public health crisis and other important initiatives that were not part of last year’s fiscal design,” Ebrahim said when presenting the budget on November 26.
The Ministry of Health, however, got only P5.5 billion, or the largest quarter of the total budget, followed by the Ministry of Social Services and Development, P3.3 billion.
Known as the “Bangsamoro General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021” or the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 15, the budget was approved unanimously by 55 members of the BTA Parliament present, Jajurie said.
“The Bangsamoro Organic Law remains at the center of this fiscal design,” Ebrahim said. “We propose mechanisms that can effectively address the diverse needs of the Bangsamoro, regardless of their geographic area and ethnolinguistic identity. This design, like last year, continues to echo the call for inclusion, where initiatives and programs are adapted to the respective realities on the ground ”, he added.
Jajurie said that the 75.6 billion pesos budget was allocated to the national government’s annual block grant, the share of national government taxes, fees and charges collected in the territorial jurisdiction of Bangsamoro, and the projected regional tax collections, fees, and charges.
The rest of the offices and their corresponding budget were the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform, P1.5 billion; Ministry of the Interior Local Government, P1.05 billion; Ministry of Human Settlements and Development, P811.01 million; Ministry of Transportation and Communications, P623.2 million; Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy, P553.7 million; Ministry of Finance, Budget and Management, P389.6 million; Ministry of Commerce, Investments and Tourism, P323.5 million; Ministry of Labor and Employment, 274.1 million pesos; Ministry of Science and Technology, P197.2 million; Ministry of Public Order and Security, P108.8 million; Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, 105.2 million pesos; Bangsamoro Human Rights Commission, 97.4 million pesos; Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority, P85.08 million; Bangsamoro Youth Commission, P76.7 million; Bangsamoro Women’s Commission, 71.6 million pesos; the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office, P41.08 million, and the Wali Office, P33.02 million.
LZB
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