Business forum tackles economic consequences of a watered-down BBL less than ARMM

Business forum tackles economic consequences of

a watered-down BBL less than ARMM

COTABATO CITY.  September 16, 2015.  The business sector in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) together with the economic agencies of the autonomous regional government held today a discussion on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) entitled “Forum on the Economic Impact of the BBL:  Original Draft vs. Substitute Bills”.

The ARMM Regional Board of Investments (RBOI) sponsored the half-day forum.

The original draft BBL is the one drafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission that was legally reviewed and agreed upon by the Office of the President and submitted by President Aquino to Congress for legislation.

The substitute bills refer to House Bill 5811 and Senate Bill 2894 for the so-called “Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region” or BLBAR that is supposed to replace Republic Act No. 9054 or the expanded ARMM Organic Act, as a result of the signing of the “Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro” between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF last year.

Recently, Ateneo De Davao University President Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ, criticized the substitute bills.  He said in his newspaper column:

“The bills proposed to replace the version submitted by the President to Congress are unacceptable. They do not honor the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which was a formal Philippine Government commitment. They do not provide for genuine autonomy for the Bangsamoro people. They provide less for the Bangsamoro people than the current ARMM law. They do not recognize the legitimacy of the Bangsamoro struggle and the proposed law as a way of restoring justice to the Bangsamoro people. They do not hear the leaders of the MILF stating that these versions are unacceptable. Worse, if they hear it, they ignore it. The legislators all say that they want peace. They reject war. But they display little sympathy for the justness of the Bangsamoro armed struggle for a homeland in redress for their having been discriminated against, deprived of their lands, massacred, warred upon because they remain true to their Muslim faith and traditions. Seeing no connection between this armed struggle and the law, they reject the original preamble of the BBL. They have reduced the autonomous region mandated by the Constitution to little more than a local government unit, removing from it powers that had already been granted in the ARMM.” (“The legislators want peace?”, Manila Times, September 13, 2015)

Previous to the business forum, the RBOI already gave an advisory to the investing public that passing a BBL that gives less autonomy than the ARMM will have a negative impact on investments in the region, and in particular one of its registered investment projects in telecommunications might be derailed.

RBOI also warned that House Bill 5811 or the substitute bill for the BLBAR now before the plenary sessions of Congress removed the investment incentives already being enjoyed by investors in the ARMM.

Such drastic changes in the rules for investments in the region will not only deprive investors of their “vested rights” but undermine the current upsurge in ARMM investments, which has reached P5.5 billion alone this year, the highest ever recorded in its 25-year history.

In 2011, East Asia (EA) Trilink Corporation registered with the RBOI their P1.5 billion project in the ARMM where the company is supposed to install a submarine cable link to connect Southern Philippines to Sabah, Malaysia, as part of its vision to become a leading service provider of telecommunications facilities in the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

EA Trilink obtained their franchise to operate telecommunications facilities in the ARMM on February 6, 1996 through Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 47 enacted into law by the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly.  Any extension of the life of the franchise would need legislation by the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly.

However, if the BBL that is passed by Congress will not provide for autonomous legislative powers for the Bangsamoro government with regards to transportation and communications as currently enjoyed by the ARMM, this will mean that the EA Trilink project could be derailed.

For his part, ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv S. Hataman made earlier pronouncements for a careful study of the BBL stating that, “We are concerned over raised apprehensions that the substitute version no longer stand(s) for the aspirations of the Moro people for a genuine independence and self-rule.” (See “ARMM gov calls for careful BBL study”, Manila Times, August 21, 2015)

Hataman also said, “We take note of how precarious the current situation, and a diluted BBL will only worsen the lives of Moro people in Mindanao.”

“Anything lesser than ARMM will not solve the problem of Mindanao and the Moro people,” Hataman emphasized.

Hataman noted that the expanded ARMM Organic Act restricted the regional government’s implementation of its development goals and reform agenda.  “We appeal for them (lawmakers) to reflect on the lives of the Moro people in Mindanao who will directly suffer from the gaps in the delivery of services once a weak and diluted law is passed,” Hataman said.

The highlight of the forum was the presentation of the Bangsamoro Study Group, a think-tank based in Cotabato City, comparing the original draft of the BBL with the substitute bills now pending in both houses of Congress.

(SOURCE: RBOI-ARMM)