Bangsamoro Parliament


The Bangsamoro Parliament is the legislature of Bangsamoro, an autonomous region of the Philippines. It is currently led by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, an interim regional governing body. The inaugural session of the parliament took place on March 29, 2019 while its first regular session is projected to take place in 2022.

History

The first Bangsamoro Parliament is an interim legislature headed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority. The first set of members of the BTA took their oath on February 22, 2019. The effective abolishment of the precursor autonomous region, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao took place following the official turnover of the ARMM to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region occurred on February 26, 2019.
The interim Bangsamoro Parliament had its first inaugural session on March 29, 2019 and passed four resolutions, two of which involved the budget for the Bangsamoro region.

Composition

As per law, the legislature should composed of at least 80 members, who in turn are led by the Speaker of the Parliament which was appointed from among the members of the legislature. Until June 30, 2019, 24 elective officials of the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also served as additional members.
Pangalian Balindong is the Speaker of the Parliament with Hatimil Hassan as his deputy. Lanang Ali Jr. is the Majority Leader and Laisa Alamia is the Minority Leader. Roby Angkal serves as Secretary General while Dan Dimakenal is the Sergeant at Arms.
40 percent of the parliament seats are allotted to representatives of Bangsamoro's parliamentary districts. Although the districts are yet to be constituted. The Bangsamoro parliamentary districts will exist independently from the legislative districts used to determine representation in the national House of Representatives.
There are also legal provisions to deter members of the parliament to switch political party allegiance. Changing political party affiliation within the term of a parliament member's term means forfeiture of seat. Changing of affiliation within six months prior to a parliamentary elections renders the person ineligible as a nominee of a political party seeking representation in the parliament.