-
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 Jan) – The Philippine Senate has asked the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to name its representatives to the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum.
Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM, provides under Article VI, Section 3 the creation of a Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum “for purposes of cooperation and coordination of legislative initiatives. “
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri wrote Bangsamoro interim Chief Minister on January 21 informing him that they adopted that day Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 5 urging the BTA to designate its representatives to the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum to be created pursuant to Article VI, Section 3 of RA 11054, and to “meet with the delegates designated by the Senate and the House of Representatives for the purpose.”
Zubiri did not say when the representatives from the Bangsamoro, the House of Representatives and the Senate would meet.
RA 11054 also provides that in the creation of a legislative district, “the Bangsamoro Government shall cooperate and coordinate with the National Government through the Philippine Congress–Bangsamoro Parliament Forum to prioritize the deliberations on the creation of a legislative district.”
Only Congress can create legislative districts.
The BARMM took over from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on February 26 last year but was formally inaugurated on March 29 at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex in the presence of President Rodrigo Duterte. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
