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Featured image above is the ‘White House’ and seat of the City Government of Cotabato known as the People’s Palace. (Credit: Tripadvisor.com)
BARMM News
By EDD K. USMAN / @edd1819 / @bluestar0910 / SDN — Science and Digital News
Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-k4G
(SDN) — Various agencies of the Bangsamoro Government went all out in their support for the leadership of new Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao.
The first time mayor of the capital and seat of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) won and defeated former mayor and lawyer Cynthia Guiani, who lost in her re-election bid in the May 9, 2022 national and local elections.
According to worldpopulationreview.com the city has a 2022 population of around 340,676, and belongs to SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII), although considered a component of Maguindanao, one of the component provinces of the BARMM.
Comprising the BARMM are the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area (SGA) made up of 63 barangays or villages in North Cotabato that opted to be under BARMM jurisdiction. North Cotabato itself is not part of the region.
As a new political entity (NPE), the BARMM was established through the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
With the successful bid, Matabalao, a former city councilor, now has the chance to show his leadership acumen and mettle as he manages a city populated by tri-people and more — Muslim, Christian, Indigenous People (IP), and even transients and visitors.
The new mayor will not be alone; he’ll have a host of supporters behind him, especially that he won the mayoralty race under the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
In fact during his inauguration the different ministries of BARMM showed their continuing support to the people of the city, with the Bangsamoro READi joining them in the fray.