GPH-MILF WEALTH SHARING IS A MODEL FOR GREATER FISCAL AUTONOMY FOR LGUs

Analysis

By Manny Pinol

www.mannypinol.com

Erase the thought that the beneficiary of the Wealth Sharing Formula is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a rebel group which for so many years waged a bloody revolt for the dream of establishing a Muslim State in the Southern Philippines.

Throw away the fear that the huge money to be earned from gold and other metallic minerals extracted from the region and a 50-50 share from oil and gas, and possibly uranium, could boost the finances of this rebel group and allow them to acquire war materiel to later on continue the aim to secede from the Republic of the Philippines.

Study the wealth sharing formula sans jaundiced eyes and you will realize that what the MILF got as concessions from the national government in the matter of natural wealth and resources found in the Bangsamoro Territory are what every local government unit in the country should get.

Under the present set up, local government units have virtually no say in the exploitation of gold and other minerals within their areas.

North Cotabato, for example, suffers from brownouts when, ironically, it has the Mt. Apo Geothermal Power Plant in Kidapawan City which is producing power more than enough to supply the 42MW requirement of the province.

Honestly, I had my reservations on how the national government would be able to handle the Wealth Sharing Provision in the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and whether it would pass the Constitutional gauntlet.

But after reading the provisions, I had to concede that the government peace panel head, Professor Miriam Coronel, was right when she said that the provisions and conditions in the Wealth and Revenue Sharing Agreement could stand legal scrutiny.

The Fiscal Autonomy given to the Bangsamoro Government is actually just an advanced level of the autonomy given to other local government units in the country under the Local Government Code or Republic Act 7160.

Consider these provisions:

• One of the highlights is the agreed sharing formula on taxing powers. The panels agreed that 25 percent of the “Central Government taxes, fees and charges collected in the Bangsamoro, other than tariff and custom duties” will go to the Central Government, while 75 percent of it, including the shares of the local government units, will go to the Bangsamoro Government.
• On other sources of revenue, government income derived from the operations of Bangsamoro government-owned and -controlled corporations, financial institutions, economic zones, and freeports operating therein, shall go to the Bangsamoro Government.
• The Bangsamoro shall have authority and control over existing government owned and -controlled corporations and financial institutions operating exclusively in the Bangsamoro territory, after determination by the intergovernmental fiscal policy board of its feasibility.
• On fund transfers from Central Government, a Special Development Fund will be provided by the former to the Bangsamoro for rehabilitation and development purposes upon the ratification of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
• When it comes to natural resources, 75 percent of income derived from exploration, development and utilization of metallic minerals within the region will go to the Bangsamoro Government. With respect to non-metallic minerals (sand, gravel, and quarry resources), such revenues will go to the Bangsamoro government and its local government units.
• Income derived from fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal) and uranium will be shared equally between the Central and Bangsamoro Governments.

The fiscal concessions included in the Wealth and Revenue Sharing will definitely entice other Bangsamoro Areas which have not been included in the proposed expanded area of the autonomy to consider joining the new Bangsamoro Government.

Who would not when the benefits are mouth watering? One hundred percent of the income from quarry operations, 75 per cent of the gold and 50 percent of the oil will go to the Bangsamoro Government.

It should not come as a surprise if more areas predominantly populated by the Bangsamoro in the Southern Philippines will ask that they be included in the plebiscite in 2015 to determine which areas would be included in the expanded territory.

In North Cotabato, where 39 barangays have already been identified as part of the core territory, more Muslim populated barangays may opt to join the Bangsamoro Territory.

With these fiscal concessions, there are only two remaining crucibles that the MILF and its leaders, who expectedly will run the affairs of the Bangsamoro Government, will have to pass.

First will be the issue of sincerity in their declared commitment to peace in the region.

The questions that the MILF leadership must satisfy here would be: 1) Are they really willing to disarm and renounce violence? 2) Will they really erase from the back of their mind the dream of an independent Islamic State given the temptation which could arise because of their logistical capability?

Will they not use the huge financial resources to acquire more weapons for the Bangsamoro Police and the internal security force expected to replace the regular Philippine National Police and the armed forces in the region?

Second will be the issue of governance.

With the abundant resources available to them, will the MILF leadership be able to draft and implement a development agenda which will really address the chronic poverty in the region which has bred discontent?

Will they be able to withstand the temptation of money and really become the benevolent leaders of their people whose first and foremost objective is to lift their people out of poverty, ignorance and deprivation?

Passing these tests positively will certainly bring about the true and lasting peace everybody in Mindanao, including the national government leadership, has been dreaming of.

But if the MILF veers away from the path of sincerity in the search for peace and upright governance, then the Wealth and Revenue Sharing concessions provided by the national government will be a virtual limitless supply of blood to a pale vampire.

Only history will tell whether the decision of the Philippine government to give in to the demands of a rebel group with known ties to terror groups in the past like the Al Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiya was the right formula for peace in Mindanao.

Source: Manny Piñol