Council of Leaders Guidelines

GUIDELINES ON THE SELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE COUNCIL OF LEADERS The Republic Act No. 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), in Section 9 of its Article VI, provides for the creation of the Council of Leaders that shall advise the Chief Minister on matters of governance in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). It shall consist of the following members: (a) Chief Minister as head of the council; (b) Members of the Congress of the Philippines from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region; (c) Provincial governors, and mayors of chartered cities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region; (d) Representatives of traditional leaders, non-Moro indigenous communities, women, settler communities, the Ulama, youth, and Bangsamoro communities outside of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region; and (e) Representatives of other sectors. In addition, the BOL states that the mechanism of representation and number of traditional leaders, non-Moro indigenous communities, women, settler communities, the Ulama, youth, and Bangsamoro communities outside of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region; and other sectors shall be determined by the Parliament. The representation of the non-Moro indigenous communities shall be pursuant to their customary laws and indigenous processes. The Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 13, in Sections 3 and 4, Book II thereof, enumerates the sectors represented in the Council of Leaders, namely the (a) professionals; (b) business; (c) private educational institutions; (d) labor; and (e) farmers, and the criteria for their selection. By virtue of Administrative Order No. 0008, s. 2021, a Screening Committee is created to receive and evaluate nominations to the community and sectoral representative seats in the Council, subject to the provisions of Book II, Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Bangsamoro Administrative Code. To ensure efficiency, economy and effectiveness in the evaluation and selection of community and sectoral representatives seats, these guidelines are hereby issued. I. THE SCREENING COMMITTEE AND ITS FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Screening Committee for the Community and Sectoral representatives to the Council of Leaders, established by virtue of OCM Administrative Order No. 8, series of 2021, is composed of the following: a. The Senior Minister as Chairperson; b. Two (2) representatives from the Office of the Senior Minister; c. Two (2) representatives from the Office of the Chief of Staff; and d. Two (2) representatives from the Office of the Cabinet Secretariat. The Office of the Senior Minister shall serve as the Secretariat of the Council. It shall likewise receive the applications and nominations. 2. The Screening Committee shall have the following functions and responsibilities: a. Develop guidelines for the screening and evaluation of nominees; b. Conduct preliminary evaluation of the qualification of all candidates; and c. Submit the top five (5) ranking candidates per category to the Appointing Authority. 1 | Page

3. The Secretariat shall have the following functions and responsibilities: a. Disseminate copies of the guidelines and its annexes to all concerned; b. Publish, in coordination with the Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO) and the Information and Communications Office (ICO), the call for nominations for unfilled seats; c. Receive nominations and applications to various council representative seats; and d. Make a comparative list of nominees. 4. The Appointing Authority shall have the following functions and responsibilities: a. Assess the merits of the Screening Committee’s recommendation for selection and in the exercise of sound discretion, select from among the top five nominees as submitted by the Screening Committee; and b. Issue Notice of Selection in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws and this guidelines. II. OBJECTIVES The objective of this guidelines are as follows: 1. Establish a system that is characterized by strict observance of the merit, fitness, and equality principles in the selection of Community and Sectoral representatives to the Council of Leaders; and 2. Create equal opportunities for representation in the Council of Leaders. III. POLICIES 1. It is the policy of the BARMM to adhere to the principles of merit, fitness, and equality in the selection of Community and Sectoral representatives to the Council of Leaders. Such selection shall be based on the representative’s relative qualifications, competence, and commitment to perform the duties and responsibilities of the position. 2. Selection of representatives to the Council of Leaders shall be open to all qualified individuals according to the principles of merit and fitness and the requirements stipulated in the Bangsamoro Administrative Code. 3. This selection plan shall cover positions enumerated under paragraphs (d) and (e) of Section 3, Book II of BAA 13. 4. The Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO) and Information and Communications Office (ICO) of the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) shall publish the call for the nomination of Community and Sectoral representatives to the Council of Leaders, in the Bangsamoro Government website and pages, provincial offices, and newspaper of regional circulation. 5. The publication of the call for nomination for vacant representative seats shall be valid for ten (10) days from the last mode of publication. 6. Selection and screening of qualified applicant nominees for purposes of filling up vacant Council seats shall commence seven (7) working days after the call for nomination is officially closed. 2 | Page

7. The Council Screening Committee shall maintain fairness and impartiality in the assessment of candidates. 8. The Council Screening Committee shall employ a systematic assessment of the competence and qualifications of candidates to the Community and Sectoral Council seats. 9. The Appointing Authority shall assess the merits of the Council Screening Committee’s recommendation and in the exercise of sound discretion, select, in so far as practicable, from among the top five ranking applicants per category of representative seat deemed most qualified. The comparative competence and qualification of candidates for selection shall be determined on the basis of experience and sector involvement. IV. SCOPE These guidelines shall cover the following representative seats in the Council of Leaders: A. Community: 1. Traditional leaders; 2. Non-Moro indigenous communities; 3. Women; 4. Settler communities; 5. The Ulama; 6. Youth; and 7. Bangsamoro Communities Outside of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BCOBAR). B. Sectoral: 1. Professionals; 2. Business; 3. Private Educational Institutions; 4. Labor; and 5. Farmers. V. DEFINITION OF TERMS Residency – refers to the candidate’s fact of living in the Bangsamoro region as supported by a Barangay Certification or Voters’ Registration. Registered voter – a Filipino citizen, who has successfully registered as a voter, not otherwise disqualified by law who is at least eighteen (18) years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one (1) year, and in BARMM, for at least six (6) months immediately preceding the election; as supported by a voter’s identification card or voter’s certificate issued by the Commission on Elections. Proven track record – shall mean outstanding relevant involvement and accomplishments and exemplary ethical behavior in the community or sector being represented, as supported by a list of community or sectoral engagement. Occupation – a candidate’s usual or principal work; per BAA 13, a nominee must not be a holder of any government position, whether appointive or elective, at the time of nomination, and any time thereafter. 3 | Page

Registered Organization – This refers to organizations registered before the appropriate ministries or agencies in the Bangsamoro Government. For this purpose, the Non-Moro Indigenous People’s Organization must be registered in the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs (MIPA); Settler Communities’ Organizations must be registered in the Office for Settler Communities (OSC); Women Organizations must be registered in the Bangsamoro Women Commission (BWC); Youth Organization must be registered in the Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC); Ulama Organization must be registered before the Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta’ (BDI); Bangsamoro Communities Outside of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BCOBAR) must be registered in the Office for Other Bangsamoro Communities (OOBC), except in the case of Traditional Leaders where registration is not necessary. Traditional Leaders – This refers to the Council of Royal Principalities in Mindanao, comprising the Sultanates of Maguindanao, Ranao, and Sulu. Maguindanao Sultanate is composed of Sultans of Maguindanao, Kabuntalan, Buayan; Ranao Sultanate includes the pat (4) a phangampong sa Ranao. Youth – Refers to a person whose age ranges from eighteen (18) to thirty-five (35) years old. VI. PROCEDURE 1. The BIO and ICO shall publish the call for nomination of Community and Sectoral representatives to the Council of Leaders in Bangsamoro Government website and pages, provincial offices, and newspaper of regional circulation . The publication of unfilled seats shall be valid for ten (10) days. 2. All candidates and nominating organizations may download the prescribed nomination form from https://bit.ly/councilofleaders, or obtain a hard copy from any BARMM provincial offices, and submit via e-mail to [email protected] or in hard copy to the Office of the Senior Minister, along with pertinent supporting documents enumerated in Annex B. The deadline for submission, set by the Secretariat, shall be likewise stipulated in the posting. 3. Upon receipt of all nominations, the Council secretariat shall forward the list of nominees for each of the Community and Sectoral representative seats to the BIO and ICO for posting. 4. The Council Secretariat shall make a comparative list of nominees per category under each Community and Sectoral representation, taking into consideration the qualifications prescribed in Section 5, Book II of BAA 13. Those who have initially complied with all the preliminary requirements shall be subject to further assessment. 5. A systematic assessment of competence and qualifications of candidates under each category shall be conducted by the Council Screening Committee who shall then endorse the top five (5) candidates per category to the Chief Minister. 6. The Appointing Authority shall assess the merits of the Council Screening Committee’s recommendation. In the exercise of sound discretion, he/she shall select from among the top five (5) ranking applicants per category. 7. The Appointing Authority shall issue Notice of Selection in accordance with the provisions of the BAA 13 and these guidelines. 4 | Page

When no nomination is received under any category or when there are no qualified nominees. The Chief Minister shall select any qualified person representing the category to the vacant seat in the Council. 8. A notice announcing the selection shall be posted in three (3) conspicuous places in BARMM after the issuance of the Notice of Selection. VII. GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION OF NOMINATIONS 1. Non-compliance with the submission of complete documentary requirements shall render the nominee ineligible for the evaluation. Nominations with incomplete documents shall no longer be processed. For nominees coming from BCOBAR, the residency requirement shall not apply. 2. Any misrepresentation made in any of the documents submitted shall be a ground for disqualification for the nominee. The nominee and the nominating organization shall be barred from participating in the subsequent call for nomination. 3. Nominees requesting any member of the Screening Committee and/or any member of the Secretariat, directly or through intermediaries, special favor or consideration shall be a ground for disqualification. 5 | Page

Annex A Nomination Form 6 | Page

Annex B Documentary Requirements The following are to be accomplished by the nominee and nominating organization, and submitted to the Council Secretariat: I. Nomination Form *see Annex A II. Supporting Documents A. Resolution/Letter of Nomination from Nominating Organization/Association B. Photocopy of Certificate of Registration of Nominating Organization/Association (eg. SEC, CDA/CSEA, DTI, DOLE, or any other proof of legitimacy) C. Birth Certificate in Security Paper (Authenticated by Philippine Statistics Authority) D. Barangay Certification or Voter’s ID or Voter’s Registration E. NBI/Police Clearance F. Involvement in community or sectoral activities (list of activities participated and nature of involvement [eg. Participant, Speaker, Facilitator, Organizer, or Consultant]) *may be supported with certificates 7 | Page

Annex C Flowchart for the Selection of Community and Sectoral Representatives to the Council of Leaders 8 | Page

Annex D Point System Guidelines in the Assessment and determination of comparative competence and qualification of candidates for representative seats in the Council of Leaders The Screening Committee for the Council of Leaders shall adopt the following qualifications and point system guidelines in the assessment and determination of comparative competence and qualification of candidates for selection of representative seats in the Council of Leaders: A. RESIDENCY Representative-nominees must be residents and registered voters of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, of legal age, not otherwise disqualified by law, with a proven track record in the community or sector represented, and must be willing and able to participate in all activities of the Council of Leaders. B. OCCUPATION A nominee must not hold any government position, whether appointive or elective and must not receive any remuneration from the government while serving as community or sectoral representative to the Council of Leaders. C. NOMINATION The nominee must be formally nominated by a registered organization, association, or institution of the community or sector being represented. An organization that has government officials and employees as ex-officio members of the Governing Board or whose operations are funded by the government are disqualified. Financial support by the government to specific projects will not be considered as funding support to operations. A preliminary evaluation shall include the assessment of compliance to the following guideline requirement: 1. Nomination. The nominee MUST BE FORMALLY NOMINATED by a REGISTERED ORGANIZATION, ASSOCIATION, OR INSTITUTION OF THE COMMUNITY OR SECTOR BEING REPRESENTED. An organization that has government officials and employees as ex-officio members of the Governing Board or whose operations are funded by the government are disqualified. Financial support by the government to specific projects will not be considered as funding support to operations 2. Occupation. A nominee MUST NOT hold any government position, whether appointive or elective. 9 | Page

Only nominees satisfying the foregoing preliminary requirements shall be subject to evaluation by the Screening Committee. The selection line-up shall reflect the comparative competence and qualification of the candidates as evidenced by the following point score distribution on the Evaluation and Assessment Criteria on the basis of the following: Completeness of Willingness and ability Track record in the Submitted to participate in all Position community/sector Documents council activities (B) (A) (C) All community and sectoral 25 70 5 representative seats A. COMPLETENESS OF SUBMITTED DOCUMENTS This shall refer to the completeness of documents submitted by the nominee and the nominating organization as enumerated in Annex B of this guidelines. If a nominee has submitted the complete documentary requirements, he/she shall be given 25 points. B. TRACK RECORD IN THE COMMUNITY/SECTOR This shall refer to the nominee’s outstanding relevant involvement, as evidenced by the nature of his or her participation (participant, organizer, resource person, consultant, etc.) exemplary ethical behavior, and accomplishments in the community or sector being represented The nominee shall be assessed on three (3) components: 1. Years of Membership - The nominee is assessed on the length of his/her involvement in the community or sector being represented, and scored as shown in the table below. 2. Number of activities (community or sectoral) involved in (in varying capacities: participant/organizer/consultant, etc.) - The nominee is likewise assessed on engagement and involvement in activities in the community or sector being represented, and scored as shown in the table below. 3. Awards and Recognition Received, if any - The nominee will earn additional points for every award and recognition received in his capacity in community or sector involvement. C. WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN ALL COUNCIL ACTIVITIES Signified through nomination and declaration in the nominee’s application, this refers to his or her perceived readiness, availability, and ability to take part in any and all activities of the council. 10 | Page

The following points are assigned, with corresponding incentive points as needed, i.e., in case of a tie. Criteria Points Incentive Remarks A. Completeness of Documents 25 Submitted - complete (25) B. Track record in the - 0-5 years community/sector Years of membership +5 6-10 years (70) 20 +10 >10 years Number of activities (community or - 1-5 activities sectoral) involved in +5 6-10 activities (in varying capacities: participant/organizer/consultant, etc.) +10 >10 activities 30 1-3 awards/ - recognitions received 4-5 awards/ Awards and recognitions received +5 recognitions 20 received >5 awards/ +10 recognitions received C. Willingness and This point is ability to participate automatically in council activities - awarded to every 5 (5) nominee upon submission of nomination 11 | Page