APPROVED. Members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao approved on final reading on Wednesday night (Oct. 29, 2020) the region’s administrative code that would define the structure and rules of governance of the fledging political entity. Fifty-eight members of the BTA, 32 of whom joined via online teleconference, voted for the swift passage of the regional bill set to take effect 15 days after publication in a national newspaper and regional tabloids. (Photo courtesy of BPI-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – Lawmakers of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) approved on Wednesday night the region’s administrative code that would define the fledgling political entity’s structural, functional, procedural principles, and rules of governance.
In a special session, 58 members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), where 32 of whom participated via zoom teleconference, voted for the passage of Cabinet Bill No. 60 titled “An act providing for the Bangsamoro Administrative Code and other related purposes”.
None of the members of the parliament voted against nor abstained from the approval of the bill.
“Today, we are writing history by providing the form and structure of the Bangsamoro government,” BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim said in his congratulatory address to the BTA parliament members on Thursday.
Ebrahim said the Bangsamoro Administrative Code (BAC) would boost the region’s pursuit of moral governance and take effective measures against graft and corruption.
The regional bill was filed on July 22 this year, with a panel constituted by the BTA Committee on Rules and headed by parliament member Raissa Jajurie conducting a series of public consultations thereafter from August 14-26.
Following the BAC’s approval at the BTA level, the bill shall be passed into law 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation or within the BARMM.
Other priority legislations such as the local government code, the education code, and the civil service code are already on its second reading in the BTA plenary.
The region’s revenue and electoral codes are yet to be filed. (PNA)
