'Sulu transition fund' pushed for better gov't services

MANILA – Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino on Wednesday called for the creation of a Sulu transition fund to address the "imbalance" in the delivery of government services in the province.

This, after the Supreme Court ruled the validity of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) organic law but excluded Sulu from the region and its annual block grant from the national government.

The decision, Tolentino noted, was "immediately executory" and interrupted basic services in the province coming from the BARMM government.

"Ang idea ko magkaroon ng (My idea is to have a) Sulu transition fund to cover up the imbalance in terms of delivering services by major departments intended for Sulu because it would not be easy to carve up something from the block grant given to BARMM," Tolentino said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum.

Earlier, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan reported that employees of the BARMM offices in his province were already informed that their last salary was only up to Sept. 10.

Tan also reported that the BARMM offices in their province lack funds to sustain operations, including rentals and utilities, which the Sulu provincial government cannot shoulder.

Tolentino said this could still be dealt with by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) by proposing the creation of a Sulu transition fund amid the budget season.

"Hindi naman pwedeng mag-antay pa sa 2025. So, I think DBM has enough to do something. Ang alam ko nagmi-meeting na sila (We can't wait until 2025. I think DBM has enough to do something. From what I know is they're already in a meeting)," he said.

In 2019, Sulu rejected the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which seeks to expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Despite voting against it, Sulu was still included in the BARMM, prompting it to file a petition before the high court questioning the constitutionality of the BOL.

The court declared unconstitutional the provision in the law that directed ARMM provinces and cities to vote as a single geographical unit, including provinces that rejected the law.

According to the Supreme Court, this interpretation violated Article X, Section 18 of the Constitution, which mandates that only regions voting favorably in the referendum should be included in the autonomous region. (PNA)