Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino has called for the immediate resolution of the funding issues concerning the province of Sulu following the Supreme Court’s decision to separate it from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Tolentino explained that the government had not considered the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling when preparing the budget, particularly the BARMM offices assigned to the now-separated province.
Earlier, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan informed the senator that employees of BARMM offices were allegedly told that their salaries would only be guaranteed until September 10.
In response, Tolentino assured Tan that he would continue to clarify the matter, especially as the Senate is currently drafting the proposed budget for government agencies for the upcoming year.
The senator also reported that he regularly questioned agency heads on how they plan to address the budget gap caused by the Supreme Court’s decision on Sulu.
He noted that neither the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) nor the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) had provided clear answers when asked during hearings last week.
It may be recalled that in 2019, Sulu voted against the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which aimed to expand the territories under the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Despite this, Sulu was still included in BARMM, prompting the province to file a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the BOL.
In its decision released last week, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the provision of the BOL that directed provinces and cities under ARMM to vote as a ‘single geographical unit,’ including those provinces that rejected the law.
Since Sulu voted against the BOL, the Supreme Court emphasized that it should not have been included within BARMM’s jurisdiction.