COTABATO CITY –A journalist-turned-lawmaker in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) filed the region’s first Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to provide the public wider access to public records.

Member of Parliament (MP) Amilbahar Mawallil of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) said Saturday the FOI bill has received a positive response from BTA colleagues.

“We believe that our people deserve to know how the regional government works. They have the right to know its dealings,” Mawallil said.

Mawallil and Deputy Minority Floor Leader Baintan Ampatuan filed BTA Bill No. 83 or the proposed “Bangsamoro Freedom of Information Act of 2021” on Friday.

“We owe it to our people to be transparent about the operations of the regional government,” Ampatuan said.

Mawallil and Ampatuan explained that once passed into law, every person shall have the right to access, examine, and copy information, official records, public records under the custody or control of the Bangsamoro Government, and to documents and papers about official acts, transactions or decisions.

Under the bill, all BARMM offices shall automatically disclose the following public records on their respective official websites like audited financial statements, annual budget reports, itemized monthly collections and disbursements, summaries of income and expenditures, and revenue targets and actual collections.

Statements of debt services, annual procurement plans and procurement lists, building processes, deadlines, and requirements, public bidding, loans, grants, development assistance, programs from domestic and foreign financial institutions, investment programs, and executive issuances (executive orders, memoranda, administrative orders, proclamations) shall also be made public.

The Bangsamoro Information and Communications Technology Office (BICTO) shall be mandated to monitor the websites of all the offices of the BARMM and provide appropriate support, Mawallil said.

He said the Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO) would serve as the FOI focal office that will oversee the implementation of the provisions of the act.

Also, the BIO shall be tasked to develop standard forms for the submission of requests and the proper acknowledgment of such requests.

“More so, the BIO shall also prepare a Right to Information Manual which shall be readily available to the public at no charge,” Mawallil said.

The FOI bill was also co-authored by Minority Floor Leader Laisa Alamia, Deputy Minority leaders Suharto Ambolodto and Rasol Mitmug Jr., and MPs Don Mustapha Loong and Rasul Ismael. (PNA)

*Originally published on Philippine News Agency (https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134295)

COTABATO CITY—A group of members of the interim Bangsamoro parliament is pushing for a freedom of information law in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) which is currently completing its bureaucracy.

The measure was filed as Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Bill No. 83, seeking to establish a system for offices in the Bangsamoro government mandating respect for and upholding people’s right to information.

According to the bill’s authors, passing legislation was needed to provide substantive and procedural details to ensure people’s access to information which are of public interest. It would be in keeping with transparency and full disclosure of government transactions.

The bill’s authors also said the measure was a concrete step toward public accountability and moral governance.

The mechanism for information access is sought to apply to all Bangsamoro government offices, including the parliament, ministries, departments, bureaus, commissions, boards, and other agencies, and government-owned or controlled corporations.

The proposal seeks to make available to the public government research data used as basis for policy decisions aside from records and documents of transactions and official acts.

The following pieces of information, the bill said, must be publicly disclosed:

• Audited financial statements
• Annual budget report
• Itemized monthly collections and disbursements
• Summary of income and expenditure
• Revenue targets and actual collections
• Statement of debt services
• Annual procurement plan and procurement list
• Bidding processes, deadlines and requirements
• Items to bid, bid results on civil works, goods and services
• Consulting services
• Supplemental procurement plan

Also subject to public disclosure are:

• Loans, grants, development assistance, technical assistance and programs from domestic and foreign financial institutions
• Development plans, investment programs, detailed engineering design, standard specifications, performance targets and accomplishments, manual of operations, programs and projects, and the implementation guidelines
• Executive issuances.

Under the measure, anyone interested to access information may just send a written request personally or via email and post.

Information shall be given free except for printing, photocopying and mailing costs.

Penalties are prescribed for failure by any government official or employee to attend to information requests within a specified period to respond.

The bill was introduced by parliament members Amir Mawallil and Baintan Adil-Ampatuan and co-authored by Laisa Alamia, Suharto Ambolodto, Don Loong, Rasol Ismael and Rasol Mitmug Jr.

COTABATO CITY — Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) passed on Tuesday, March 16, the Resolution No. 356 commending Al-Basher Buto for his outstanding feats in both national and international chess championships, and providing support for his future development, during its Session No. 55 at the Bangsamoro Government Center, in Cotabato City.

The resolution was introduced by principal authors members of the Parliament Atty. Rasol Mitmug, Jr., Atty. Laisa Alamia, Suharto Ambolodto, Engr. Baintan Adil-Ampatuan, Amilbahar Mawallil, Rasul Ismael, and Engr. Don Mustapha Loong.

“One of the goals of the Bangsamoro Sports Commission [BSC] is to actually develop young athletes in the Bangsamoro,” Atty. Mitmug said.

Buto is the the first and youngest Bangsamoro master chess player.

The young Cainta-based Maranao chess player, who traces his roots from Marawi City, has participated in about 102 chess tournaments since the age of five and has achieved many awards in different competitions including scoring a gold medal in the 13th Asian Schools Chess Championship in China, and received three individual and two team gold medals for the overall crown in the 8th Asean Age Group Chess Championship in Malaysia in 2017. Buto also also won a trophy at the National Group Chess Championship in Cebu in the same year.

“Aside from giving support for the future development of our athlete, we should (also) give due recognition and incentive to the winning athletes especially those who win in the international field,” Atty. Jose Lorena said during the interpellation.

Atty. Omar Yasser Sema emphasized the importance of extending support to athletes in order to retain them, and avoid what has happened in the past athletes of the Philippines due to lack of support.

As stipulated in the Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC) Act, the BYC should extend and provide support and assistance to deserving youth and youth organizations, including scholarship grants.

The Bangsamoro Government, through the Ministry of Basic Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), the BSC, and the BYC, has committed to provide financial support for Buto’s education, training and participation in both national and international competitions as a representative of the Bangsamoro region and the Philippines. (Bangsamoro Information Office)

*Originally published by the Bangsamoro Information Office (https://bangsamoro.gov.ph/news/latest-news/bta-extends-support-to-10-year-old-chess-master-al-basher-buto/)

COTABATO CITY–The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government has granted a 10-year-old Bangsamoro chess master an educational scholarship, vowing to provide financial assistance for his training and future matches.

“One of the goals of the Bangsamoro Sports Commission [BSC] is to develop young and dynamic athletes in the BARMM as they have these gifted talents to represent its people,” Mitmug said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mitmug said that Buto, who belongs to a Maranao family currently based in Cainta, Rizal with his family, is the first and youngest Bangsamoro master chess player.

The regional government also promised to support Buto in future national and international competitions, he added.

On Tuesday, the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the lawmaking body of the BARMM, passed Resolution No. 356 commending Buto for his outstanding feats in both national and international chess championships.

Buto has participated in more than 100 chess tournaments since the age of five and has reaped awards in various competitions, including a gold medal in the 13th Asian Schools Chess Championship in China in July 2017.

He also received three individual and two team gold medals for the overall crown in the 8th Asean Age-Group Chess Championship in Malaysia, and a trophy at the National Group Chess Championship in Cebu in the same year.

Lawyer Omar Yasser Sema, another BTA member, underscored the importance of extending support to athletes “to retain them and avoid what has happened in the past athletes” who left the country due to lack of support.

BTA member Jose Lorena, also a lawyer, said BARMM should also provide incentives to its athletes “especially those who win in the international field.” (PNA)

*Originally published on Philippine News Agency (https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1133925)

MANILA – Members of Parliament of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) have filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, which once enacted shall be known as the “Bangsamoro Freedom of Information Act of 2021.”

BTA Bill 83 contains provisions similar to the proposed FOI Act (House Bill 05776) pending in Congress.

It is an effort of the Bangsamoro government to harmonize with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order on FOI and Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim’s call for moral governance and to provide a local mechanism that upholds people’s right to information.

By adopting a policy of transparency, the Bangsamoro government foresees increased public trust and empowerment of the Bangsamoro.

The bill directs all offices in the Bangsamoro government to make accessible to the public all official and public records and information unless otherwise stated in the exceptions and by present laws and jurisprudence.

Consequently, the Bangsamoro Information and Communications Technology Office (BICTO) shall establish an online FOI portal so people may conveniently and efficiently access government information.

BICTO will also be designated to monitor the websites of offices and provide them with capacity-building programs to make sure they comply with the policy’s requirements.

The bill also mandates the Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO) to be the FOI Focal Office. BIO shall oversee the implementation of the bill, including the composition of an FOI Manual, identification of an FOI Receiving Officer per office, and establishment of a request tracking system.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), as the lead implementer of the FOI Program, recognizes this new development as vital to its vision of a whole-of-government approach in enforcing transparency in public service and crucial to the institutionalization of the Bangsamoro government.

PCOO Undersecretary and FOI Program Director Kristian R. Ablan said the FOI Project Management Office is willing to extend its assistance to BTA in terms of capacity-building activities for FOI implementers.

The bill was introduced by MP Amilbahar S. Mawallil and MP Engr. Baintan A. Ampatuan, and co-authored by MP Atty. Laisa Masuhud Alamia, MP Atty. Suharto M. Ambolodto, MP Engr. Don Mustapha A. Loong, MP Rasul E. Ismael, and MP Atty. Rasol Y. Mitmug, Jr. (PR)

*Originally published on Philippine News Agency (https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1133690)