COTABATO CITY (February 21) —- President Rodrigo Duterte will lead the oath-taking ceremony of the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and the ceremonial confirmation of the BOL plebiscite canvass results tomorrow, February 22 at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang.
Mohagher Iqbal, the chairman of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Implementing Panel (PIP) and also a member of the BTA, revealed members of the BTA left Central Mindanao for Manila aboard commercial flights on February 19 while their families and other guests took C130 and C295 planes of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
The BTA will govern the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) until the elections of the regular members of the Bangsamoro Parliament in 2022.
The members of the BTA will be appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte. It will be led by a chief minister and two deputy chief ministers.
The incumbent elected officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will also be part of the BTA until June 30, 2019, when their term ends.
President Duterte has yet to announce the composition of the BTA.
Iqbal said Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim, the chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), will act as the interim chief minister during the transition period.
The Republic Act No. 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) provides for the creation of a Bangsamoro Transition Authority which shall be the interim government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region during the transition period. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) shall lead the BTA, without prejudice to the participation of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in its membership.
As provided for in the BOL, the transition period for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region shall commence upon ratification of this Organic Law. This Organic Law shall be deemed ratified when approved by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite as proclaimed by the Commission on Elections or its duly authorized officers.
On January 25, the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers (NPBOC) declared the official results of the January 21 plebiscite and said the BOL was “deemed ratified.”
The Comelec, sitting as the NPBOC, proclaimed that Cotabato City “shall form part” of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), while the City of Isabela in Basilan “shall not form part” of the BARMM.
The BOL provides that the BTA should prioritize the accomplishment of the following priorities during the transition period:
A. Enactment of priority legislations such as the Bangsamoro Administrative Code; B. Bangsamoro Revenue Code; C. Bangsamoro Electoral Code; D. Bangsamoro Local Government Code, and E.Bangsamoro Education Code consistent with powers and prerogatives vested in the Bangsamoro Government by this Organic Law.
Provided, that until the abovementioned laws are enacted, the Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 25, otherwise known as the “Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Local Government Code” shall apply in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Duterte is hoping that the establishment of the Bangamoro region will be instrumental in the attainment of peace in Mindanao Island.
Duterte earlier said there can never be peace as long as the dream of the Bangsamoro people for a genuine autonomous region is not realized.– Taher G. Solaiman/NewsLine.ph
