Bam Aquino seeks ample budget for Bangsamoro

Credit to Author: BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO| Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2019 17:57:32 +0000

SEN. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino 4th on Tuesday appealed to lawmakers to ensure that there would be ample funds in the proposed P3.7-trillion national budget to implement the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

The senator reminded the government of its promise to bring peace and order in Mindanao through BOL, which created the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Senate version of the 2019 budget allotted around P30 billion additional budget for the BOL.

“Dapat tiyakin na sapat at hindi kulang ang suporta para sa BOL (Enough support for BOL must be ensured),” said Aquino, co-author and co-sponsor of the BOL.

SEN. Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th

The senator is hopeful that the bicameral conference committee will finish crafting the proposed 2019 General Appropriations Bill on Wednesday, February 6, so that the Senate and the House of Representatives will be able to ratify the budget measure on the same day.

Republic Act 11054 or BOL mandates that the appropriation for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) shall be transferred to the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

The ARMM was allotted P31.1 billion for 2019, but this amount will not be enough because officials said the transition to BOL would need around P59 billion.

“Ang tagal na nitong pinangarap at inilaban ng mga kapatid nating Moro (Our Moro bothers and sisters dreamed of and fought for this for so long,” Aquino said.

“Dapat hindi mabinbin ang transition dahil sa kakulangan ng budget (The transition process must not be delayed due to lack of budget),” he added.

The post Bam Aquino seeks ample budget for Bangsamoro appeared first on The Manila Times Online.

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