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Begun and held in Cotabato City, on Monday, the twenty-second day of July 2013

AN ACT REQUIRING ALL LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS IN THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO TO ALLOCATE A SUITABLE LAND SPACE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PUBLIC CEMENTERY FOR THE BANGSAMORO, PROVIDING FOR SOME GUIDELINES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Regional Legislative Assembly in session assembled.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. - This Act shall be referred to and be known as the "BANGSAMORO PUBLIC CEMENTERY ACT OF 2014"

SECTION 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY - Pursuant to Section 5 and 11, Article II of RA 9054, the Regional Government shall provide, maintain and ensure the delivery of , among other things, basic and responsive health programs.  It shall also adopt distinct beliefs, customs and traditions and the respective religion of the inhabitants of the region.

SECTION 3. DEFINITION OF TERM. - For purposes of this Act, the following items shall be defined as such;

	(a)	Bamgsamoro - Those who at the time of the conquest and colonization were considered natives of inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including Palawan, and their desecendants, whether of mixed or of full blood, shall have the right to identify themselves as Bangsamoro by ascription or self-ascription. Spouses and their descendants are classified as Bangsamoro.
	(b)	Sadagh - is an Islamic term that means "voluntary charity". The concept encompasses any act of givng out of compassion, love, friendship (fraternity), religious duty or generosity.
	(c)	Zakat/Zakah - means to "purify". It refer to the purification of a Muslim's wealth and soul. It is obligatory form of "charity" expected from every Muslim individual.

SECTION 4. - (a) All Local Government Units (LGUs), particularly cities and municipalities within the area of autonomy shall allocate a minimum of two (2) hectares for the cities and municipalities of land suitable for the stablishment of a Bangsamoro public cemetery that shall be incorporated in the Local Government Units' repective Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) to be approved by the concerned Sangguniang Bayan.  For this purpose, the LGUs may seek the technical assistance of the DENR-ARMM in identifying said land requirements within their jurisdiction.  Likewise, LGU's may also source out through land donation from private groups or individuals for the establishment of the cementery.  Thereupon, LGUs may develop a program that will give recognition and provide tax and other form of incentives to the donors.

(b) Provided further, that the appointment of the land area shall be in proportion with the percentage of the population that comprises the group whether muslims or non-muslims to be determined by the local Government Units (LGUs), such that twenty percent (20%) of the land acquired for the purpose shall be set aside for use by the non-muslim.

SECTION 5. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION. -  Local Government Units shall have the power and authority to establish, maintain and operate cemetery and to ensure active participation of the private and accredited religious sector may, by ordinance, adopt guidelines establishing parameters and regulations, as well as, regulatory fees, levies or charges for privately-owned and operate cemeteries.

There is hereby created public cemetery management office in every municipality vested primarily with the responsibility to supervise, maintain and operate the public cemetery, ensure compliance of private-owned and operated cemeteries with the governing rules, and to submit recommendations for review and consideration of their local sanggunian.

SECTION 6. CREATION AND COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD. - Pursuant to Section 4 of this Act, there shall be created a board that will manage the donations and other assets intended for the establishment and maintenance of the Bangsamoro Public Cementery composed of the following to wit:

	a)	City of Municipal Mayor - Chairman
	b)	City of Municipal Treasurer - Vice-Chairman
	c)	City of Municipal Planning Development Officer - Member
	d)	City of Municipal Civil Register - Member
	e)	City of Municipal General Services - Member
	f)	City of Municipal Health Officer - Member
	g)	City of Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer - Member
	h)	City of Municipal Chief of Police - Member

SECTION 7. FUNDS AND OTHER SERVICES. - In cases where Local Government Units shall appropriate and maintain said cemetery, they are hereby authorized and empowered to accept Sadaqah, endowment, fund securities or donated property of any kind, and other incidental expenses/charges that are deemed necessary, appropriate to ensure efficient operation of said cemetery.

SECTION 8. LEAD AGENCY. - The Department of Interior and Local Government shall be the lead agency implementation of this Act and in close consultation with the LGUs, the Department of Environment and Natural resource-ARMM (DENR-ARMM) and Department of Health-ARMM (DOH-ARMM) shall formulate the Implementing Rules and Regulations.

SECTION 9. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. -  If, for any reason or reasons, any part or provision of this Code shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid, other parts or provosions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SECTION 10. REPEALING CLAUSE. - Any law, rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent with any provision of this Act is hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 11. EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in newspaper of regional criculation.

APPROVED.


This Act was passed by the Regional Legislative Assembly on March 2, 2015.