‘Brothers’: Bangsamoro Interior Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo (left) welcomes his Malaysian ‘brother’ Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia to the Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC) in Cotabato City, the seat of the BARMM. (Images: MILG)
BARMM News
By EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — Science, Digital & Current Affairs
Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-kHV
COTABATO CITY — Malaysia’s Sabah Special Envoy to the BIMP-EAGA Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia has visited the Bangsamoro region, showing affinity with the Bangsamoro people.
The visitor is the former speaker of the Malaysian Parliament who has “a long and outstanding political career both at the Sabah State level and the Federal Government level,” said Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo, head of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG). His ministry is one of the primary line agencies of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
(BIMP-EAGA stands for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area while ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.)
“We officially received today (July 26, 2022) at the Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC) the delegation of Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia, Malaysian Special Envoy to the BIMP EAGA. Tan Sri is the former Speaker of the Malaysian Parliament and has a long and outstanding political career both at the Sabah State level and the Federal Government level,” he said.
Sinarimbo emphasized that BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag “Al-Hajj Murad” Ebrahim directed the MILG to lead other ministries of the Bangsamoro government in receiving “in receiving this important envoy as he cannot personally receive him due to his attendance to the SONA (State of the Nation Address), which was held on July 25 at the Batasang Pambansa Building in Quezon City.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. delivered his first SONA on that day in a join session of Congress, outlining the agenda of his administration in the next six years.
“We have had very fruitful discussions on a range of vital issues of partnership and cooperation for both our regions and countries which will propel further development and progress for both. We benefited from his insightful analysis and recommendations for revitalizing the BIMP EAGA,” the interior minister said.
Sinarimbo and the Malaysian dignitary are no strangers to each other, having had linked together in the past.
“We also managed to reminisce good old days together as I have stayed in their Kampung (village) for over a month in the mid 1990s when I accompanied my late father-in-law during one of his visits there.
“He is a brother to me as my father-in-law adopted him as his son and supported him during his earliest foray into politics and all throughout his long and eventful political career,” he recalled.
“On behalf of the Chief Minister Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, thank you Tan Sri for visiting us.” (✓)