Cotabato City (November 13, 2019) – The Bangsamoro Government will fast-track the finalization and passage of the 2020 regional budget to avoid disruption in government operation.
BARMM Spokesperson Naguib Sinarimbo said “the urgency of that is if we fail to make appointments and comply with the publication requirements of the positions within December, we will have a situation where will not have a government operating by January 2020 and we don’t want that to happen.”
Sinarimbo said Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim has instructed the Ministry of Budget, Finance, and Management (MFBM) to “complete the preparation of the budget before November 14, 2019.”
The proposed regional budget will then be submitted to the Office of the Chief Minister for review. After which, Ebrahim will convene his Cabinet to finalize the 2020 budget proposal.
According to Sinarimbo, “the cabinet may be in session to complete the preparations for the budget before the Chief Minister submits the budget of the government of the day as a cabinet proposal to the parliament.”
The Chief Minister is expected to request the holding of a special session of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority on November 18, 2019 for the deliberation of the proposed regional budget.
The regular session of the Bangsamoro Parliament happens every third and fourth week of the month on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Sinarimbo said the Bangsamoro Government hopes to enact the 2020 Regional Appropriations Act on November 21, 2019, and have it published the following day.
“After it becomes effective after 15 days, we can proceed with hiring people for January. We need to commence the process of hiring people in December because we will need to publish vacant positions,” Sinarimbo explained.
The Regional Appropriations Act is one of the seven priority bills of the BARMM parliament that would set up the allotment for the BARMM offices.
Section 27, Article VII of the Bangsamoro Organic Law states that “[n]o public money, including the block grant and other national government subsidies and support funds given in lump sum, shall be spent without an appropriations law clearly defining the purpose for which it is intended. The Parliament shall pass an annual appropriations law.” (Bureau of Public Information)
