The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)-led Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) would be operating next year with a whopping P70.6 billion budget.

The bulk of this fund will come as a block grant or automatic appropriation.

In the proposed 2020 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) set aside P70,634,076,000 for the BARMM.

This allocation more than doubled the last general appropriation for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for 2019, which was P31,117,016,000.

Of the total amount, P63,634,076,000 will come as an annual block grant which is automatically appropriated as BARMM’s share from the national internal revenue tax collections in accordance with the provisions of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, or Republic Act 11054.

Apart from the block grant, the DBM also proposed an additional P5 billion as Special Development Fund (SDF) allotted for the rebuilding, rehabilitation and development of the conflict-affected communities in the BARMM.

Unlike the block grant, the release of SDF requires the submission of the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP) adopted by the BARMM and its utilization shall be in accordance with the BDP.

The DBM also gives P2 billion more as BARMM’s share in taxes, fees and charges collected in the region.

Under Sections 15 to 18, Article XII of RA 11054, the national government shall provide an annual block grant, which shall be the share of the Bangsamoro government in the national internal revenue tax collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and collections of the Bureau of Customs (BoC).

The block grant to BARM is equivalent to five percent of the net national internal revenue tax collection of the BIR and the net collection of the BoC from the third fiscal year immediately preceding the current fiscal cycle.

The law further stated that the amount shall be sufficient for the exercise of the powers and functions of the Bangsamoro government, and in no case shall be less than the last budget received by the ARMM immediately before the establishment of the BARMM.

Section 18 of the same law further stated that the block grant shall be released without need of any further action, directly and comprehensively, to the Bangsamoro government, and shall not be subject to any lien or holdback that may by imposed the national government for whatever purpose.

BARMM is composed of the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan, and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan.

There are 116 municipalities under BARMM composed of 2,590 barangays from eight congressional districts.

MILF chairman Ebrahim Murad is the chief minister of BARMM.

The BARMM is the product of decades-long peace negotiations between the government and the MILF. It was ratified earlier this year.

The more than P70 billion appropriations of BARMM are higher than the 2020 proposed budgets of the Office of the President (P8,201,318,000), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (P25,495,843,000), the Department of Energy (P1,395,561,000) and the newly-formed Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (P6.3 billion) combined.