POWERS/PROVISIONS DELETED/AMENDED IN SB No.

2894 WHICH ARE

ALREADY GRANTED TO ARMM (IN RA No. 9054 and RA No. 6734)
I.

The following powers were removed from the jurisdiction of the

Bangsamoro Government (either deleted or moved to reserved powers)
in SB No. 2894:
a. The exclusive power over inland waters was deleted. RA 9054 granted
ARMM the authority, power, and right to explore, develop, and utilize
the natural resources, including surface and sub-surface rights, inland
and coastal waters, and renewable and non-renewable resources in
the autonomous region. (RA 9054, Article III, Sec. 8). RA 7160 (Local
Government Code) likewise granted municipalities jurisdiction over
municipal waters which includes, among others, streams, lakes, tidal
waters, and marine waters.
b. The exclusive power to contract loans, credits, and other forms of
indebtedness was deleted, but loans, credits and other forms of
indebtedness were retained as a revenue source for the Bangsamoro
Government. RA 9054 grants the Regional Governor the power (as
authorized by the Regional Legislative Assembly) to contract foreign
or domestic loans (RA 9054, Article IX, Sec. 14).
c. The exclusive power over protection of indigenous peoples was
deleted, but the relevant provision under Article VIII (Basic Rights)
was retained. RA 9054 has many provisions on protection of IPs. For
instance, the Regional Government shall undertake measures to
protect the ancestral domain and ancestral lands of indigenous
cultural communities (RA 9054, Article X, Sec. 1) and the Regional
Assembly shall provide for the codification of indigenous laws and
compilation of customary laws of the Muslims and the indigenous
cultural communities in the autonomous region (RA 9054, Article VIII,
Sec. 21). The said law also provides that the fundamental rights and
duties of the people in the autonomous region are those defined in the
Constitution and the Organic Act, the Geneva Convention, the United
Nations Charter, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Communities, the International Declaration on Human
Rights, as well as those prescribed in all the laws, practices, and
principles binding upon members of the community of nations. (RA
9054, Article III, Sec. 15)
d. The exclusive power over land management, land distribution, and
agricultural land use reclassification was deleted. RA 9054 mandates
the ARMM to adopt a comprehensive urban land reform and land and
water use program (RA 9054, Article XI, Sec. 4). The Regional
Assembly may enact an agrarian reform law suitable to the special
circumstances prevailing in the autonomous region (RA 9054, Article
X, Sec. 8). Under the LGC, cities and municipalities are given the power

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e.

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to reclassify lands subject to the limitations contained therein (LOCAL

GOVERNMENT CODE, Sec. 20).
The exclusive power over registration of births, marriages, and deaths
was deleted. RA 9054 empowers the Regional Legislative Assembly to
enact laws on registration of births, marriages, and deaths within the
region (RA 9054, Article XV, Sec. 2). Furthermore, RA 7160 mandates
cities and municipalities to appoint a civil registrar to perform within
the local government unit the civil registration program pursuant to
the Civil Registry Law, the Civil Code, and other pertinent laws, rules,
and regulations.
The exclusive power over water supplies and services, flood control,
and irrigation systems in the Bangsamoro was deleted. RA 9054
already grants the Regional Government the power to adopt and
implement a water use program (RA 9054, Article XI, Sec. 4), directs
the Regional Government to provide, maintain, and ensure water
resource development and maintain appropriate disasterpreparedness units (RA 9054, Article III, Sec. 11).
The power to temporarily take over or direct operation of privatelyowned public utility or business affected with public interest in times
of state calamity was deleted. (RA 9054, Article XII, Sec. 12)
The power to recognize constructive or traditional possession of lands
and resources by ICCs was deleted. (Article X, Sec. 2)
The power to adopt and implement a comprehensive urban land
reform and land use program was deleted. (RA 9054, Article XI, Sec. 4)
The power to enact a civil service law was deleted. (RA 9054, Article
VI, Sec. 13)
The Bangsamoro Governments power to create other LGUs is now
only limited to barangays. (RA 9054, Article VI, Sec. 19 as qualified by
the case of Sema vs. COMELEC)
The Bangsamoro Governments power to create economic zones and
industrial estates is now made subject to application with and the
approval of the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA). RA 9054
empowered the Regional Government to create a Regional Export
Zone Authority (REZA) which performs the functions of PEZA, in
addition to those that may be further provided in a regional law,
within the region. (RA 9054, Article XII, Sec. 4). Likewise, the exclusive
power over free ports is now a reserved power of the National
Government. RA 9054 includes free ports in the jurisdiction of the
Regional Export Zone Authority (RA 9054, Article XII, Sec. 4)
The power to enact a law that would allow augmentation in any item
in the Bangsamoro GAA was granted to the ARMM but is taken away
in SB No. 2894. (RA 9054, Article VII, Sec. 21f)
The power to enact laws, rules, and regulations governing the regional
police was deleted. RA 9054 empowered the RLA to enact laws to
govern the Regional Police Force (RA 9054, Article XIII, Sec. 3)

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o. The following powers of the Regional Governor over the regional

police were deleted:
i. To recommend to the President the appointment of the
regional director and his deputies (RA 9054, Article XIII, Sec.
8d)
ii. To exercise operational control and supervision and
disciplinary powers over the Bangsamoro Police (RA 9054,
Article XIII, Sec. 8b)
iii. To employ or deploy the elements of and assign or reassign the
Bangsamoro Police through the Bangsamoro Police Director
(RA 9054, Article XIII, Sec. 8c)
iv. To directly impose administrative penalties on personnel of
the Bangsamoro Police which, according to SB 2894, can only
be done through the PLEB. (RA 9054, Article XIII, Sec. 8f)

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II.

The following are powers already exercised by ARMM and were

transferred from exclusive to concurrent in SB No. 2894:
a. The exclusive power over health. RA 9054 mandated the Regional
Government to provide, maintain, and ensure the delivery of, among
others, basic and responsive health programs (RA 9054, Article III,
Sec. 11)
b. The exclusive power over science and technology. RA 9054 grants the
RLA the power to enact laws on science and technology (RA 9054,
Article XIV, Sec. 16)
c. The exclusive power over research councils and scholarships. A
comparable power or competency was already devolved to the
ARMM. RA 9054 enjoins the Regional Government to provide
scholarships to qualified poor but deserving students in all levels of
education. The Regional Government shall administer the scholarship
programs of the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority scholarship programs,
both local and foreign within the region (RA 9054, Article XIV, Sec.
20). It shall provide financial assistance to disadvantaged but
deserving students from any funds including those provided by the
central government or national government for that purpose (RA
9054, Article XIV, Sec. 21)
d. The exclusive power over libraries, museums, historical, cultural, and
archaeological sites. Under RA 9054, the Regional Government shall
recognize, respect, protect, preserve, revive, develop, promote, and
enhance the culture, customs, traditions, beliefs, and practices of the
people of the autonomous region. It shall encourage and undertake
the recovery, collection, collation, and restoration of historical and
cultural properties for posterity (RA 9054, Article XIV, Sec. 26). The
Regional Assembly may, by law, create a bureau on cultural heritage
which shall plan, initiate, implement, and monitor cultural programs,
projects, and activities that preserve and enhance the positive
elements of the indigenous culture of the inhabitants of the
autonomous region (RA 9054, Article XIV, Sec. 27).
e. The exclusive power over cadastral land survey. The functions of the
DENR relevant to cadastral land surveys were transferred to ARMM
by virtue of Executive Order No. 425, s. 1990 and further effected by
Administrative Order No. 81, s. 1990.

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III.

The following are other amendments found in SB No. 2894 which have
counterpart or relevant provisions in RA No. 9054:
a. Preamble was deleted. Both RA 6734 and RA 9054 contained a
Preamble.
b. Jurisdiction of Shariah courts limited to persons and family relations.
RA 9054 empowers the Regional Legislative Assembly to formulate a
Shariah legal system that covers cases involving persons, family, and
property relations, commercial transactions, and criminal cases
involving Muslims (RA 9054, Article III, Sec. 5)
c. Provisions on the creation of the Shariah High Court were deleted.
The counterpart in RA 9054 is the Shariah Appellate Court (RA 9054,
Article VIII, Sec. 7).
d. The national CHR is compelled to create the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region Human Rights Office while at the same time allowing the
Bangsamoro Government to organize its own human rights body
under concurrent powers. Note that the existing Regional Human
Rights Commission in ARMM is a creation of the Regional Legislative
Assembly and has a complementary relationship with the national
CHR (RA 9054, Article III, Sec. 16)

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Legal Team of the Government Panel for Talks with the MILF
as of 17 August 2015