Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS)

The Bangsamoro Parliament is supported by the Secretariat in providing the Parliament Members with adequate, relevant, and efficient administrative and technical assistance that enables them to perform legislative tasks with representation and oversight responsibilities. The Secretary General heads the Secretariat and is assisted by different departments and divisions, including the Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS).

The PRLS Office of the Service Director supervises the entire management operations, organizes mandate-relevant activities, evaluates the works of the divisions and oversees their deliverables, facilitates legislative workshops, initiates stakeholder’s partnerships with guidance of the Secretary-General and approval of the Parliament Speaker, and manages its virtual presence. It has two divisions that carry and deliver specific focal services.

(1) Legislative Research Division produces legislative research reviews, legislative research notes, and legislative briefers as well as conducts policy research workshops.

(2) Legislative Measures and Legal Assistance Division constructs legal reviews, legal opinions, and provide salient legal primers, including legal assistance on Parliament-related issues, and conducts bill drafting workshops.

To look further into the PRLS agenda, proceed by clicking the following sections:

Under the Divisional Structure of the Bangsamoro Parliament and exemplified by the December 2020’s Resolution No. 96, the Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS) shall provide support to the Members of the Parliament—including the Parliament’s departments, services, and division offices (referred here as Parliamentary Professionals)—with all forms of legislative reviews and types of legislative briefs including efficient legal assistance across legislative measures, agenda, and concerns.

Services Deliverable

  • Legislative Reviews (Legislative Research Reviews and Legal Reviews)
  • Legislative Briefs (Legislative Research Notes, Legal Opinions, and Legal Primers)
  • Legislative Workshops (policy research and bill drafting workshops)

PRLS advances a research culture grounded on multiperspectivist thinking both critical and jurisprudential, including lived experiences of the Bangsamoro peoples in addressing the following focal service areas:

Office of the Service Director’s service areas

  1. Coordinate and supervise the entire management operations of the Service.
  2. Orient and remind the technical and administrative staff of the PRLS mandate, its mission-vision, its Service Manual, and Code of Conduct.
  3. Assess the research and “review works” of the two PRLS divisions, the research and legal.
  4. Oversees the “legislative review request” from the Members of the Parliament starting from assigning them to the divisions, proofreading the division’s works, designing properly their outputs, and until releasing the final works.
  5. Supervise and organize the publication of all forms of legislative reviews and types of legislative briefs.
  6. Manage and administer the PRLS website and social media accounts.
  7. Facilitate physical, virtual, or hybrid workshops on policy research and/or bill drafting.
  8. Initiate cooperation, coordinate collaboration, and establish partnership among stakeholders both within and outside BARMM under the guidance of the Secretary-General and approval of the Parliament Speaker.

Legislative Research Division’s service areas

  1. Review, assess, and analyze legislative measures and laws upon request from a Member of the Parliament and/or Parliamentary Professional (referred to as “Legislative Research Reviews”).
  2. Provide impartial assessments and brief analyses on issues of legislative significance and collect facts, descriptions, and statistics that are evaluated based on their relevance, soundness, and their potential to enrich and substantiate discussions on legislation (referred to as “Legislative Research Notes”).
  3. Lead in conducting the Policy Research workshop.

Legislative Measures and Legal Assistance Division’s service areas

  1. Provide an in-depth and comprehensive evaluation of the current draft of a bill to ensure its constitutionality and consistency with national and regional laws, upon request from a Member of the Parliament (referred to as “Legal Reviews”).
  2. Respond to an existing query on legal matters and review of legal documents affecting the Bangsamoro Parliament upon request from a Member of the Parliament and/or Parliamentary Professionals (referred to as “Legal Opinions”).
  3. Summarize Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts by underscoring their salient provisions (referred to as “Legal Primers”).
  4. Lead in conducting the Bill Drafting workshop.

The PRLS is duty-bound to uphold its vision, mission, goals, and values in providing research-grounded legislation and legal assistance. The approved and adopted vision, mission, goals, and values by the PRLS as a team on December 15-17, 2021 are:

Vision:

PRLS is constituted of committed parliamentary professionals envisioned to ignite and advance the culture of legislative research and legal services in the Bangsamoro Parliament.

Missions:

  1. To create a significant space to homegrown ways of knowing and world-making grounded on lived experiences of the Bangsamoro;
  2. To produce quality research and legal services in the Bangsamoro Parliament; and
  3. To promote a multiperspectivist thinking in aid of formulating policies and legislation.

Goals:

  1. Serve as one of the primary institutions for policy research and legal services in the Bangsamoro region.
  2. Equip the Service with advanced knowledge pertinent to the PRLS mandate.
  3. Strengthen partnerships with relevant stakeholders.
  4. Nurture a diverse, inclusive, multicultural, religio-pluralistic, and safe workplace.

Values:

Envisaging a tolerant society for both Muslims and non-Muslims, the PRLS is guided by the esprit de corps of “moral governance” conduit to the following principles:

  1. Credible and Truthful
  2. Judicious, Logical, and Participatory
  3. Action-oriented and Generative
  4. Systematic and Methodical
  5. Multidisciplinary and integrative
  6. Reductive and Replicable
  7. Time-bounded and Cost-effective

Service Manual of Operations

It is with honor and pride to present the first version of the Service Manual of Operations of the Policy Research and Legal Services. It contains the systems, processes, policies, and procedures of each PRLS Division which reflect the discipline and rigor of the PRLS staff in performing office functions. The PRLS is committed to work and serve with professionalism and competence to deliver prompt and quality service.

PRLS Manual of Operations (2021 version one)Download

Proposed revised manual of operations of the Research Division.Download

Proposed revised manual of operations of the Legal Division.Download

Guided by the mandate of the Bangsamoro Parliament, and taking cognizance of the functions of PRLS, producing the Manual is a key step in the department’s continuing progression towards excellence and efficiency in its operations. This Manual primarily serves as a guide for current and future staff in performing the duties and responsibilities in running office operations to maintain standards of operational excellence while at the same time making the public aware of the structure, duties and responsibilities, and processes of the PRLS.

This living document, discussed and deliberated in depth based on months of work as activated, is a testament to the hard work put by each PRLS staff in gearing towards igniting the culture of research for the betterment of the Bangsamoro people in working operationally in service of the Bangsamoro.

Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards

The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of the Bangsamoro Parliament’s Policy Research and Legal Services is being adopted in conformity with the policy of the state to “promote a high standard of ethics in public service”, and to promote and uphold “moral governance” as being mandated by the Bangsamoro parliament.

Article XI, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines solemnly enshrines the principle that a public office is a public trust and mandates that public officers and employees, who are servants of the people, must at all times be accountable to the latter, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives. Republic Act No. 6713 otherwise known as the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees” mandates the promotion of a high standard of ethics in public service.

Proposed PRLS Code of Conduct and Ethical StandardsDownload

Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 17 otherwise known as the “Bangsamoro Civil Service Code” mandates Bangsamoro Government officials and employees to uphold set of rules, practices, and processes of governance completely devoid of all evils of graft and corruption and shall be explicitly driven by the moral principles of utmost dedication, devotion, honesty, justice, and integrity.

In keeping with the mandates of the foregoing laws, it is hereby declared the policy of the Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS) to uphold the highest ethical standards among its officials and employees. The office shall strictly comply with its obligations under these laws and shall be committed to uphold the ideals of “moral governance” as a conduit to the five immutable principles of faith, freedom, moral authority, common good, and social ethics.

Brochure