BTA extension needed to achieve peace and normalization in BARMM – Tolentino

Administration Senator Francis Tolentino has emphasized the need for an additional three-year transition period in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), to implement the peace-building and normalization efforts embodied in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

Tolentino, chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, noted in his sponsorship speech for Senate Bills No. 2019 and 2025 that his panel earlier saw the need to extend the BARMM transition period to carry out what has been agreed in the CAB.

The two proposed legislations both seek to extend the transition period in BARMM until the year 2025 by amending the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

The measure aims to postpone the first general elections in BARMM and further allow the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to continue its program towards normalization.

Tolentino said although the present BTA has exceeded its target of generating P2.3-billion worth of investment projects by 180 percent in the BARMM Region, the global coronavirus pandemic has posed significant challenges on the accomplishment of the priority programs and projects of the transitory body for the last two years.

The senator noted that development projects in the region had to take a backseat to the formulation and implementation of an effective response to the global health crisis.

He said the interim Bangsamoro government took up the unprecedented challenge to respond to the public health crisis and lead recovery plans in the region despite the radical uncertainty brought about by the pandemic.

Tolentino said despite great strides in spearheading various socioeconomic programs in the region, the BTA has yet to complete all its tasks under the BOL, and thus, faced with the question of the propriety of extending the functions of the transitory body.

With the desire to sustain and continue the efforts started by the BTA, Tolentino’s panel conducted a series of hearings and constituted two technical working groups to thresh out the issue on the extension of the transition period.

Tolentino’s panel has also received copies of resolutions and manifestations from several local government units (LGUs) and major stakeholders in BARMM clamoring for the extension. (JCC)

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)