By Noel Punzalan
COTABATO CITY – Despite the pandemic, lawmakers of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are stepping up efforts to enact priority legislative measures for the fledgling region.
Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Speaker Pangalian Balindong said Friday the 80-member parliament is busy deliberating several priority bills.
The BTA serves as the interim lawmaking body of the BARMM during its transition period.
More than two years since the establishment of the BARMM, Balindong said the BTA accomplished most of its tasks, including the passage of two priority codes mandated by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
“The BTA managed to pass the BARMM’s administrative code and civil service code in October 2020 and February 2021, respectively, after a series of public consultations and deliberations,” he said.
Also passed into law are the adoption of the Bangsamoro flag; the adoption of the official Bangsamoro emblem; the 2020 BARMM Appropriations Act; Human Rights Act; Attorney-General’s Office Cct; Socioeconomic Development Planning System Act; the Bangsamoro Hymn Act; and the Women’s Commission Act.
More regional laws enacted are the Recruitment Agency Regulation Act; Youth Commission Act; an act defining the power of appointment in the BARMM; the Sports Commission Act; an act extending the availability of the 2020 Bangsamoro appropriations to December 31, 2021; the 2021 BARMM general appropriations act; and adoption of the BTA-BARMM official seal.
He said a total of 122 other resolutions were discussed and passed in the plenary.
He said two priority bills – the local government and education codes – had advanced to second reading and are now referred to appropriate committees for final deliberation.
“The BTA Committee on Rules handles the local government code, while the Committee on Basic, Higher, and Technical Education for the education code,” Balindong, a lawyer, said.
He noted that other priority bills such as the electoral code, revenue code, and the Indigenous Peoples’ code have yet to be filed.
"The parliament was able to enact the region’s administrative and civil service codes on time and is currently on track to legislate the local government code, education code, electoral code, and revenue code," he said.
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