ESTABLISHED economic actors like big business have been said to have largely assumed either a wait and see attitude or one of conditional participation in relation to the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and the transition. So it was a refreshing change to hear representatives of the private sector and cooperatives operating in the Bangsamoro areas articulate their potential contributions to specific provisions of the BBL first before articulating their concerns.
Representatives of cooperatives and chambers of commerce from both mainland and island areas covered by the Bangsamoro gathered in a Forum on the BBL or HB 4994 and the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP) from December 8 to 9, 2014 in Davao City. SUCCEED Global organized the Forum with the support of Cordaid. The activity was well timed given the scheduled December 11 Congressional hearing for Davao.
Focusing their inputs on Articles XII (Fiscal Autonomy) and XIII (Economy and Patrimony) of the BBL, the co-ops and private sector groups not surprisingly picked up on their contributions to the local economy as investors, employers, service providers and as taxpayers.
The participants reminded Congress and other stakeholders of their interest in and support for Islamic banking and finance. Cooperatives, in particular, cited their experience in implementing development assistance projects funded through grants and donations, while the private sector proffered their initial experiences in Shari'ah and Halal-compliant enterprises.
Notwithstanding these claims to their contributions, past and potential, there is definitely a lot of work cut out for the cooperatives and private sector that are based in the Bangsamoro. Most of them belong to the small and medium level categories of enterprises, which have better performance in terms of employing local labor, and a higher probability of keeping and circulating capital locally.
The participants did not limit themselves to economic, resource and financial concerns however as they also tackled the political and social realms.
They commented on good governance and called for transparency, accountability, and the intensification of the fight against corruption and political dynasties. The participants also sought for representation of the two sectors in the Bangsamoro Sustainable Development Board, and in the Bangsamoro Parliament.
The links between the economy and human capital were articulated in the participants' concern for free education that follows that Malaysian model and the development of "technical and vocational skills of the Bangsamoro peoples (that) are based on, responsive to, and supportive of the economic resources, potentials, requirements and aspirations of their localities."
Ethnicity was also a theme of interest with the participants' call for the inclusion of the Sultanate of Kabuntalan in the list of Sultanates in Article IX Section 19, and the addition of non-Moro indigenous peoples from outside the mainland like the Sama Dilaut in Article VII Section 6.
The co-op and private sector representatives moreover had a stake on gender, reminding Congress to ensure "financial support to women empowerment through policies and programs/projects" and "safeguard(ing) the full and proper allocation, utilization and accounting of use of the Gender and Development (GAD) budget."
It would be interesting to observe whether the approach taken by the co-ops and private sector in terms of intervening in the BBL would resonate well with Congress and the other stakeholders.
But of course, it would be more remarkable for the cooperatives and private sector in the Bangsamoro to continue to live out their claimed contributions, and to even systematically expand these regardless of what happens to the BBL.
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