Congress asked to clarify Bangsamoro gov’t powers on control of natural resources

Congress should define the powers that will be devolved to the proposed Bangsamoro government concerning the management of natural resources, the head of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said Wednesday.

Appearing before lawmakers at the House ad hoc panel hearing on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), MinDA chairperson Luwalhati Antonio said this is to avoid potential conflict among stakeholders in Mindanao.

According to Antonio, they are concerned over the possibility that Lanao Lake, Mindanao’s primary source of electricity, will be controlled by both the national and Bangsamoro governments.

“We’re concerned about the protocol, who determines how much water is released for power. If there will be two entities—the national government and Bangsamoro government— determining protocol, we have a problem here. I don’t want Mindanao to have a war over water,” she said.

Government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said that as stated in Article 5, Section 3 of the Bangsamoro bill, the new autonomous region “will have authority to regulate power generation, transmission and distribution operating exclusively in the Bangsamoro and not connected to the national transmission grid.”

She said the Bangsamoro government shall also have the responsibility to promote both domestic and international investments in the power sector industry in the region.

However, in instances when power generation, transmission, and distribution facilities are connected to the national transmission grid, the bill provides that the central government and the Bangsamoro government shall cooperate and coordinate through the inter-governmental relations mechanism that will be put in place.

Former National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) director general Felipe Medalla proposed the creation of a regulatory board focused on managing the use of water resources in the proposed Bangsamoro region to avoid conflict.

“[The board] will ensure that if there are conflicts in the use of water, it’s clear which use (irrigation or power generation) will have higher priority over the others,” he said.

Make rights clear

Medalla urged Congress to scrutinize the Bangsamoro bill thoroughly to clarify the powers the new autonomous government will have.

“The sooner it is settled, the better [instead of just] hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. The best way is to make the rights very clear, [for Congress to state] what belongs to whom, who pays for what,” he said.

The Bangsamoro bill, otherwise known as House Bill 4994, will formalize the creation of the Bangsamoro region envisioned to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The 122-page proposed legislation, which resulted from the peace agreement inked by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), contains provisions on power-sharing and wealth-sharing arrangements between the national government and the Bangsamoro government.

For her part, presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles took in stride the criticism from some lawmakers that HB 4994 contains ambiguous provisions, saying it will still be subject to revisions by Congress.

She said nothing in the proposed legislation should be considered final until it is passed into law and approved in a plebiscite.

"Don't take anything that happens here (committee deliberations) as a one-shot deal because everything can still move," she told reporters at the sidelines of the hearing.

The national government plans to conduct a plebiscite to ratify the BBL in the envisioned core territory of the Bangsamoro next year. —KBK, GMA News