The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament on Friday, Feb. 5, renewed its calls for the extension of the transition period.
In a statement, BTA Parliament Speaker Atty. Pangalian Balindong also lauded the filing of five bills at the House of Representatives. The bills seek to amend section 13 article XVI of the Republic Act 11054, or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), and to fix the first regular election of the region.
"The bills pending in the House of Representatives which seek to extend the term of the BTA from 2022 to 2025 are a welcome development for the Bangsamoro people."
"Such extension will provide a fresh mandate to BTA members to roll out its plans and programs for the welfare and well-being of our constituents," Balindong added.
The bills include House Bill 8116, House Bill 8117, House Bill 8161, House Bill 8222, and House Bill 8277 filed by Representatives Loren Legarda, Esmael “Toto” G. Mangudadatu, Ferdinandh Martin G. Romualdez, Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo, and Isidro Ungab, respectively.
"We hope and pray that our esteemed legislators will see the merits of our plea and allow us to continue our work for the benefit of our people," Balindong said.
Balindong said the BTA's "mandate to enact major legislations has been has been seriously hampered" due to the global pandemic.
He said while major bills have been drafted, its approval "cannot be expedited without the requisite public consultations."
"The restriction on the people’s movements and poor internet connection among stakeholders have prevented the conduct of hearings and meetings for the deliberations of the pending bills," Balindong added.
"We should not also lose sight of the fact that the BTA has only become fully operational in August 2019 when funds were allotted to enable the parliament members to acquire their own staff," Balindong said.
The BTA official also added that the implementation of the normalization track is delayed. He said of the 40,000 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants for decommissioning, only 12,000 fighters were given a cash out of P100,000.00. This is still below the promised P1,000,000.00 total economic package for each member.
Balindong also said the upcoming presidential election season "will possibly cause further delay."
"Thus, the snail-paced implementation of the CAB, which is compounded by the lack of adequate financial support from the government, necessitates a revised timeline of accomplishment," he added.