COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority headed by Director General Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali met on Thursday, Sept. 29 with the representatives from the Office of the Assistant Senior Minister, Office of the Chief of Staff, Technical Management Services of the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM-TMS), Ministry of Finance, Budget and Management (MFBM), and The Asia Foundation (TAF) to solicit their inputs as reference in crafting the Official Development Assistance (ODA) handbook and the proposed international assistance mechanism.
One of BPDAโs functions is to coordinate national and foreign assisted programs and projects implemented in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The meeting highlights the orientation on the roles and functions of the abovementioned offices with respect to international assistance. A brief background on the formulation of ODA handbook was also learnt by the participants.
โThe formulation of the handbook has legal basis under Section 14 of the BAA,โ said Engr. Guialalluden M. Usop, Acting Head of the Official Development Assistance Nationally Funded Programs and Projects Coordination Division (ODANFPPCD).
Ma. Victoria Z. Maglana suggested for the involvement of the OCM and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as contributors to the said handbook. She further presented the OCMโs roles and functions related to ODA per Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) 13(1).
According to BAA 13(1), the Parliament, by a vote of majority of all its members, may authorize the Chief Minister to contract domestic or foreign loans, credits, and other forms of indebtedness to finance the construction, installation, improvement, expansion, operation or maintenance of public utilities, infrastructure facilities, housing projects, acquisition or real properly, implementation of other capital investment projects, and for the development and welfare of the people of the Bangsamoro.
Maglana also recommended a โhybridโ tool for the respondentsโ notions of mechanism highlighting its three components, a platform, structure, and guidelines, policies, and systematic process.
Meanwhile, Engr. Windel Diangcalan, Director from the Office of the Asst. Senior Minister proposed for a forum that can be conducted at the level of the OCM. (Mary Lovella Lao-Lastimosa with reports from Norodin Intia, BPDA-BARMM)
