DAVAO CITY—The top official of government’s National Commission for Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) denied its units were used to channel funds to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“We don’t know where critics are getting all the information that they have been announcing to the media, but we can certainly ask the implementing agencies of Sajahatra Bangsamoro and, of course, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission [BTC] to send them the financial reports that were submitted to the Commission on Audit [COA] if they want,” NCMF Chairman Bai Yasmin Busran-Lao said.
“All they have to do is ask.”
Busran-Lao issued her statement on Friday, after news reports came out that alleged money from the Executive branch was being funnelled to the BTC and the Sajahatra Bangsamoro. The latter is a government-funding program aimed to uplift the economic conditions of the Moro-populated communities.
Busran-Lao said she can attest all government funds spent for these communities are in order and properly accounted for. The Sajahatra Bangsamoro is a legitimate government program “implemented by government agencies that provide services and other development projects for communities in Muslim Mindanao,” according to Busran-Lao.
The BTC, on the other hand, is a government agency created by President Aquino that is under the Office of the President and remains subject to regular government accounting rules and COA audit, she added.
A statement released on Friday by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) quoted government peace panel member Senen Bacani on the BTC’s P100-million operational expenses.
Bacani was quoted as saying the money is “subjected to regular government accounting and auditing procedures, since the body is under the Office of the President.”
On the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program, the Opapp quoted Bacani as saying, “Its main goal is to provide short-term quick-impact projects to the economically deprived communities and other targeted beneficiaries in Mindanao.”
“The draft BBL provides for the creation of the BTA to oversee the transition of the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to the future Bangsamoro region,” the former agriculture secretary added.
Manuel T. Cayon