Category: News and Events

The Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS) held a Grand Iftar on April 19 in observance of Ramadan. Ramadan is the holiest month of the year in Islamic culture. For Muslims, it’s a time for spiritual reflection and growth; it’s also the perfect opportunity to help those in need and spend more time with friends and families. The sacred month of Ramadan is practiced by fasting from food and water and abstaining from committing evil deeds from the start of dawn to sunset every day.

Iftar marks the end of each day’s fast and often celebrates and brings together the community. Ramadan also emphasizes a renewed commitment to generosity and charity, and iftar is connected to those values as well. Providing food for others to break their fast is considered an important part of the observance. As part of the event, the dinner also serves as a celebration and thanksgiving for its newly appointed staff. The gathering also welcomes the new employees of PRLS and congratulates the Service’s new lawyers who have recently passed the Bar examination 2020-2021

Media representation of women in the Bangsamoro region: A case of Mindanao Expose

Authored by: Keindel Maha D. Vizcarra

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on how media represent women in the  Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Given the interlocking issues of religion, culture, and economic conditions, the research engages the question of how women in BARMM are represented in media to understand how these representations could contribute to the existing gender structures in BARMM, whether just or unjust. This study analyzes the contents of Mindanao Expose, a weekly newspaper based in Cotabato City, for a four-month period. Through content analysis, this study shows that despite the underrepresentation of women in the news, as men still dominate the news images, the newspaper has moved beyond the depiction of women as simply sexualized, subordinate, or in their traditional roles; instead, women in BARMM are seen as formal, active, and someone who is engaged in public. Based on these representations, one can draw the conclusion that the representation of women in BARMM through news platforms has the potential to challenge stereotypes against women and promote more meaningful roles and conditions for Bangsamoro women. 

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To help refine the Bangsamoro Investment Code, the Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS) attends the Bangsamoro Board of Investments Technical Working Group (BBOI TWG) meeting on April 13.

PRLS Director Nassef Manabilang Adiong has served as a resource speaker during the meeting, along with the heads of two divisions under the service, Atty. Hisham Biruar and Mr. Vincent Casil. The BBOI TWG, of which the PRLS is a member, convened to review and discuss matters relating to various sections of the bill.

The said TWG was formed after the BBOI adopted a resolution to expedite the approval of the draft of the proposed measure on Regional Investment Incentives Law, or the Bangsamoro Omnibus Investment Code.

The measure is one of the priority legislation the Bangsamoro Government intends to pass in order to “promote investments in the region and render fiscal incentives-giving services for the development of the regional and national economy in consonance with the principles and objectives of achieving regional and global competitiveness; fostering economic efficiency; encouraging and supporting investments that promote region-wide development and create productive and quality employment.”

Devolution: BARMM’s Road to Moral Governance?

Authored by: Nashrolah S. Langco

Executive Order No. 138 mandates that local government units (LGUs) of the Philippines be awarded larger responsibilities in pursuit of the full devolution in response to the Mandanas-Garcia ruling, which demands that LGUs be given a larger share of the national fiscal pie through a larger IRA. As such, there is now a burden to capacitate said LGUs to take over some functions formerly handled by the national government in relation to the larger funds allocated to them. In line with the trend, there are expectations for discourse centered around the administrative and logistical implications of the said ruling. There must, however, have a focus on investigating and exploring the concept of devolution itself, particularly in the case of BARMM, whose goal is to inculcate moral governance as a framework. Devolution, and as a corollary political decentralization, might be a key factor in paving the way for moral governance.

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BARMM Parliament’s Policy Research and Legal Services in partnership with The Office of the Member of the Parliament Atty. Maisara C. Damdamun-Latiph and Support to Bangsamoro Transition (SUBATRA) has conducted a series of skills training on basic bill drafting to selected bill drafters of the offices of the MPs from March 22-29, 2022, held in Cotabato City and Marawi City.

Bill drafting plays a significant role in making quality and sound legislation. It is the stage where policies are translated into legal form. Thus, a bill drafter should have a strong command of language and be able to use precise words. A bill drafter should also be aware of the issues involved in writing legislation.

In this series of skills training, the participants were introduced to the fundamental processes of bill drafting, including stages of legislation in the Bangsamoro Parliament, the form and structure of a bill, and a resolution.