COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on Wednesday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to establish a P1-billion revolving fund for the payment of salaries, compensation, and emoluments of workers and personnel of nationally funded programs deployed in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The legislation is known as Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 36 or Bangsamoro Revolving Fund Act of 2023.
Three days after they formally opened their second regular session on Monday, May 15, the Members of Parliament voted on the measure that Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim earlier certified as urgent with 49 affirmatives, no negative and no abstention.
“Workers under nationally funded programs directly supervised by the BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) ministries, offices, and agencies will no longer experience delayed payment of wages and other remunerations following the Bangsamoro Parliament’s approval of a bill that would allot a P1-billion revolving fund for the timely payment of their salaries,” the BTA said in a statement.
Member of Parliament Eduard Guerra, chairman of the BTA’s Committee on Finance, Budget and Management, said “this landmark legislation will address the perennial problem of the delay in the transfer or download of funds from the National Government for the payment of salaries of the workers under nationally funded programs.”
“We have 51 Doctors to the Barrio; 1049 (employees) under the Nurses Deployment Program; 812 in the Rural Health Midwife Placement Program and 110 workers in other Health Deployment Program under the Ministry of Health. We have 1601 workers under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps); 90 from Sustainable Livelihood Program; 50 from Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, and 20 in other more programs under the Ministry of Social Services and Development,” Guerra said.
Guerra claimed “A total number of 3725 workers will benefit from this piece of legislation.”
“The revolving fund will be enough to cover at least 6 months of delay in the payment of their wages, a funding requirement of 160-M per month. This fund will be replenished as soon as funds from the National Government is downloaded to the Bangsamoro Government,” Guerra said.
Deputy Speaker Nabil Tan said, “The swift passage of the bill is for the workers in the region who work tirelessly to give services to the Bangsamoro people” and that “the Bangsamoro Parliament has finally settled this issue through the said legislation.”
The Ministry of Finance, Budget, and Management (MFBM) will administer and manage the revolving fund in accordance with its cash management and disbursement system and procedures, subject to all existing government accounting and auditing rules and regulations.
The revolving fund will not be automatically dissolved in the event that nationally funded programs are no longer implemented in the region. It will only be dissolved or reverted to the Bangsamoro Treasury when the MFBM authorizes the ministries, agencies, and offices to draw funds from it.
Under the approved bill, the revolving fund will not be automatically dissolved in the event that national-funded programs are no longer implemented in the region.
It will only be dissolved or reverted to the Bangsamoro Treasury when the MFBM authorizes the ministries, agencies, and offices to draw funds from it.
“The MFBM will submit an official quarterly report on the releases, obligations, and disbursements to the Parliament through the Bangsamoro Speaker,” the BTA said.
