Diane Hora | iMINDSPH
Cotabato City — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament has approved on its third and final reading the BTA Bill No. 44, a proposed law concerning the establishment of an office tasked with providing financial assistance to mujahideen of the MILF and MNLF who are now senior citizens or permanently disabled.
This legislation introduces the creation of the Office of the Bangsamoro Mujahideen Under Special Circumstance (O-B-M-U-S-C). Forty-one lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, with no opposing votes or abstentions.
Qualified recipients include senior citizens or individuals with permanent, partial, or total disabilities from the ranks of the MILF and MNLF. They are entitled to receive a minimum monthly aid of P7,000.
During the first year of implementation, recipients will receive a lump sum of P84,000, followed by quarterly allowances in the subsequent years. An initial fund of five hundred million pesos will be allocated for this purpose, to be included in the annual budget of the Office of the Chief Minister.
The bill also outlines the eligibility criteria, specifying mujahideen who participated in the struggle for the right to self-determination of the Bangsamoro people between 1969 and 2014, or at least twenty years.
Under the proposed law, permanent partial disabilities include the complete and permanent loss of fingers, arms, legs, ears, loss of hearing, vision, and other approved cases by OBMUSC. Meanwhile, permanent total disabilities result from injuries or illnesses leading to complete, irreversible, and permanent incapacity that prevents individuals from working and earning income.
A technical working group will be formed by the Office of the Chief Minister and the CSSD to coordinate with the MILF and MNLF central committees on the list of qualified and validated recipients.
Comments