DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 26 December) – The Bangsamoro Parliament has approved the proposed P98.5 billion budget of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for 2024, the last full-year budget that will be implemented by the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) before the transition government steps down on June 30, 2025 and the first 80-member Parliament elected on May 12, 2025, takes over.
The 2024 budget is up by P13.1B from P85.4B in 2023 and was unanimously approved last Thursday, the last session day in 2023 before the BTA Parliament declared a recess.
Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim, BARMM Chief Minister, submitted to the Bangsamoro Parliament on October 24 the proposed P98.5 billion Bangsamoro Expenditure Program (BEP) with education, infrastructure and health as top priorities.
In 2022, the BARMM’s budget was P79.8 billion; in 2021 it was P75.6 and in 2020 it was P65.9. The 2019 budget was prepared by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which was abolished when the BARMM was established.
BARMM budget from 2020 to 2024. MindaNews graphics by YAS OCAMPO
Ubaida Pacasem, Minister of Finance, Budget, and Management announced in October that the proposed 2024 budget is to be sourced from the following: P70.5 billion from the Annual Block Grant as provided in the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP); P5.08 billion from shares in national taxes collected within the BARMM as provided in the NEP; P5 billion from the Special Development Fund; P471 million from the projected regional taxes; and P17.3 billion from the declared savings from prior years.
Ebrahim said the budget proposal for 2024 signifies the BARMM government’s commitment to address the region’s needs, increase economic growth, and improve the overall quality of life for the Bangsamoro people.
The BARMM was established in 2019 after the ratification of Republic Act 11054, the enabling act of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement signed between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014.
The MILF-led 80-member BTA, serves as the Bangsamoro Government until June 30, 2025. Chief Minister Ebrahim is concurrent MILF chair.
Education, Public Works, Health
As in previous years, education and infrastructure are getting the largest chunk of the budget: P30.2 billion for the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) from P27.2B in 2023 while the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is getting P17.8B in 2024, from P16.4B in 2023.
The Ministry of Health’s (MOH) budget for 2024 is P6.6B, up from P5.9B in 2023.
The 2024 budget of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), which refers particularly to the Parliament, is P4.8 billion from P3.9B in 2023.
The 2024 budget of the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) is P3.9B, from P5.7B in 2023.
The BARMM budget pie for 2024. MindaNews graphics by YAS OCAMPO
The Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) will receive P3.7B in 2024. In 2023, its budget was P3B.
The Ministry of Interior and Local Government’s (MILG) budget for 2024 is P2.3B, up from P2.04B in 2023; the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform’s (MAFAR) budget for 2024 is P1.8B, from P1.5B in 2023.
The Ministry of Human Settlements and Development’s (MHSD) budget is P1.1B from P 214.3M in 2023.
The 2024 budget of the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy (MENRE) is P834M, from P539M in 2023.
Top Ten
The 2024 Bangsamoro Appropriations Act has not been uploaded on the BTA’s website as of Monday but according to a press release issued by the BTA on Thursday night, here are the 10 offices and ministries getting the biggest chunks of the budget pie – a total of P73.1B out of the P98.5B, leaving only P25.4B for other offices and ministries to share.
- MBHTE: P 30,251,210,027
- MPW: 17,774,054,140
- MOH: 6,657,091,430
- BTA: 4,831,206,302
- OCM: 3,884,118,344
- MSSD: 3,702,389,285
- MILG: 2,359,893,235
- MAFAR: 1,913,541,274
- MHSD: 1,132,845,944
- MENRE: 834,206,301
Increased allocations from proposed in October to approved in December
MindaNews notes that among the Top Ten, four agencies will receive an increase in their budgets more than what they proposed in the Bangsamoro Expenditure Program in October, with the BTA getting the highest increase at P1.7 billion.
For 2024, the BTA has been allocated P4.8B instead of its proposed P3,112,866,028 or an increase of P1.7B; the Office of the Chief Minister has been allocated P3.8B from its proposed P3,483,118,344 or an increase of P401M; the MPW has been allocated P17.7B compared with its proposed P17,614,054,140 or an increase of P160 million; the MILG will get P2.4B instead of the proposed P2,279,883,235 or an increase of P80M; and the MAFAR will get P1.9B instead of the proposed P1,882,041,274 or an increase of P31.5M.
The BTA press release refers to these increases from the proposed in October to the approved in December as “notable adjustments.”
Also accorded “notable adjustments” were the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) with P38 million more than what was proposed, Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) with P17.5M more, Ministry of Public Order and Safety (MPOS) with P15M more, Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH) with P15M more, Bangsamoro Pilgrimage Authority (BPA) with P5M more, Bangsamoro Women Commission (BWC) with P4.14 M more, Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MIPA) with P3M and the Bangsamoro Attorney-General’s Office (BAGO) with P2.07M.
Increases in budget as proposed in October 2023 and as approved in December 2023. MindaNews graphics by YAS OCAMPO
In the Bangsamoro Expenditure Program, the proposed budgets for these offices were: MOST at P349.6M; MOTC at P615.2M; MPOS at P160.2M; BCPCH at P103M, BPA at P167.8M, the BWCat P89.8M, MIPA at P132M and the BAGO at P55.8M.
What offices suffered from budget cuts as a result of the “notable adjustments” for others can only be checked once the budget as approved – the Bangsamoro Appropriations Act – is uploaded on the BTA website.
Extended use of 2023 budget and SDF until December 2004
On December 20, a day before the BTA Parliament passed the 2024 budget, it approved Bangsamoro Government Bills 265 and 266 on third and final reading, granting an extension for the utilization of the 2023 budget and the Special Development Fund (SDF) until December 2024.
Bill 265 Bill authorizes the continued use until December 31, 2024 of “funds for the release and disbursement of unpaid obligations of fiscal year 2023 appropriations” while Bill 265 is for the extension of the use of the SDF.
Under the Organic Law for the BARMM, the National Government provides the Bangsamoro region an SDF of P50 billion for the rebuilding, rehabilitation, and development of its conflict-affected communities.
The SDF is allocated at P5B every year for 10 years from the ratification of the Organic Law. The law was ratified in 2019 and the first SDF was released in 2020. The last SDF will be in 2029.
The use of the funds shall be in accordance with the Bangsamoro Development Plan.
The extension bills 265 and 266 as approved, have not been posted on the BTA website as of Monday.
Last year, on December 22, the Parliament passed Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 34 extending the validity of the use of the 2020 and 2021 SDF until end of 2023. On the same day it also passed BAA 33 “extending the availability” of the 2022 budget until December 31, 2023. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
