By fast-tracking development in the war-torn Bangsamoro through infrastructure build-up and intensified delivery of social services, the government sees faster and more effective way to rebuild the region from the damages of repeated conflicts that have made it and its people the poorest in the country, a basic objective of the peace process which the government pursued in Mindanao.

Faced by a poverty incidence rate of 48.7 percent in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as of 2012, the government sought to fast-track development in the region by proposing a P17-billion Special Development Fund (SDF) in the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), according to government peace panel member Senen Bacani.

The BBL, the charter for a new Bangsamoro regional government to replace the ARMM, is pending review and approval in both chambers of Congress.

Official data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that among the provinces in the ARMM, Lanao del Sur posted the highest poverty incidence rate with 68.9% with Maguindanao scoring the second highest poverty incidence rate at 57.8%. The island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi have slightly lower poverty incidence rates, but are among the highest also in the entire Philippines.

Bacani said the government proposes to remove poverty as one of the causes of recruitment into extremist armed groups in the South by creating more economic opportunities and boosting incomes of the people in the region through the infrastructure build-up and intensified delivery of social services. He noted that Congress has been in the forefront of pushing development in the entire country to lessen the incidence of poverty among many Filipinos, and the provision of these funds to the Bangsamoro is along the same principle.

“Areas in the proposed Bangsamoro, which are mostly composed of provinces under the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have lagged behind in terms of economic growth for years due to armed hostilities,” he said.

The SDF is proposed to be broken down into an initial tranche of P7-billion for the first year of existence of the BBL, with P2 billion a year to be released for five years.

To ensure there would be no repeat of past sad experience in the utilization of public funds, the government will implement strict audit and transparency rules in its use, first through the Bangsamoro audit agency proposed to be created also under the BBL, and also through the Commission on Audit, Bacani said.

Civil society and other institutions are also expected and would be encouraged to participate actively in monitoring the utilization of funds and the implementation of the projects under the SDF, he added.

To ensure that the Bangsamoro regional government would have adequate funds, the government also proposed under the BBL to give the Bangsamoro government a 4% share out of the 60% revenue allotment budget of the national government estimated to reach P27 billion at current budget figures. If approved by Congress, this block grant from the IRA would replace the annual subsidy given by the national government to the ARMM, which amounts to P24.3 billion under the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA). The 40% revenue allotment is for local government units.

This block grant is not a special allocation only for the Bangsamoro, as it would be availing of a share in the internal revenue allotment (IRA) funds under a system for all other local government units in the country, Bacani stressed.

“For development to catch up with poverty in the Bangsamoro region, the government sees fresh funds in rebuilding these war-torn areas as a tool for strengthening the peace,” Bacani added.

The bill also allocates at least a billion pesos to fund the operations of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, as it prepares to transition to the new Bangsamoro region.

Bacani said the government’s vision is to make the Bangsamoro people feel the changes as a result of the peace agreement signed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), thus ensuring a stronger mass base for peace and development.

Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, has said that the ultimate objective of providing these funds is to “help strengthen the Bangsamoro region become the anchor and sanctuary of our aspirations of shared prosperity and shared security – not only in the Philippines, but in Asia and across the globe. Its inclusive character affirms this government’s commitment that no one – Muslim, Christian or Lumad – will be left behind.”