Budget chief to BARMM: Maintain status quo amid Sulu ruling

Metro Manila, Philippines — Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman told the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and Sulu to “maintain the status quo” after the Supreme Court ruled to exclude the province from the region.

In a statement on Thursday, Sept. 26, Pangandaman assured local officials that the national government is exerting efforts for a smooth transition, and that it would take a whole-of-government approach in delivering essential public services. A discussion with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is underway.

“We would like to affirm that the salaries and benefits of local government personnel in the province shall continue, and are to be charged against available local government funds, while those for the personnel of the various provincial field offices in the different ministries under the BARMM government should continue to be charged against their corresponding appropriations from the annual block grant,” Pangandaman said.

The budget chief said her agency is waiting for the “entry of judgment indicating the finality of judgment, barring any motion for reconsideration the parties may file.”

Pangandaman said the agency believes that programs, projects and activities funded by the Bangsamoro government should still be implemented until the finality of the court ruling.

“Considering the SC ruling, funding for PAPs for the province shall already be excluded from BARMM’s annual budget for the succeeding fiscal years,” she noted.

Lawmakers have also raised as an issue in budget deliberations that government agencies must come up with a transition fund.

In a unanimous decision released Sept. 9 and penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law but declared Sulu not part of the region. The province did not ratify the law.