Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino renewed his call to various government agencies to work together to come up with a transition fund to cover the expenses urgently needed by Sulu province. 

He said this following Sulu's severance from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

During the hearing on the proposed budget for 2025 of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and its attached agencies, Tolentino, who presided over the sub-committee hearing, asked DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos how the agency has been assisting Sulu, as the latter transitions from BARMM to Region IX.

Region IX, the Zamboanga Peninsula, is being presumed as the region that would absorb administrative jurisdiction over the province.

“As we discuss this, there is no budget for Sulu’s police vehicles, so how can they conduct patrols? The funding for the salaries of DILG personnel in the province has stopped,” Tolentino remarked.

“You have regional officers in Region IX, and perhaps Sulu will be transferred there. What happens now to Sulu? Is it possible to carve out something from your budget allocation to form a Sulu fund? This could come from a small share from each agency, but if pooled, this transition fund could be substantial enough,” the senator told Abalos.

In response, Abalos said that just like other agencies, the DILG did not anticipate the exclusion of Sulu from BARMM, based on the recent decision of the Supreme Court (SC), which he noted was immediately executory.  

“We are coordinating with the Ministry of the Interior Local Government of BARMM if it would be possible to keep the status quo. In the same token, we face a dilemma on how to raise these funds from what we currently have. It is difficult, but we're trying to scrape some funds using every means possible,” shared Abalos.

Tolentino then turned to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to ask whether the agency had come up with a directive yet to guide government agencies in assisting the province.

Responding to the senator, Carlos Castro, a director at DBM, said the agency is in the process of drafting a comment to establish a funding mechanism for Sulu, which would cover provisions such as salaries, government assistance and other related matters – including the consideration of a transition fund for the province.

Tolentino stressed the need to expedite the issuance of the DBM directive to ensure that vital government services in the province would not be disrupted.

“We're not just talking about DILG. We're talking about the Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, DSWD, and the rest. We all need to help Sulu,” the senator stressed.

Throughout the seven-hour hearing, Tolentino relayed the same appeal to other agencies under the DILG, such as the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Bureau of Fire Protection.