BARMM News
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COTABATO CITY (SDN) – The Bangsamoro government led by Chief Minister Ahod Balawag “Al-Hajj Murad” Ebrahim will implement in 2023 more infrastructure projects worth Php289 million through his Support to Local Moral Governance (SLMG) Program.
Ebrahim’s administration that runs the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is now on its fourth year and has two more years before the life of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) reaches its limit in 2025.
The BTA was supposed to lapse in June 2022, but it was extended for three more years so it could complete its mandate covering the transition from the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the new political entity (NPE), which is BARMM, as well as set in place the bureaucracy, legislate priority governance codes, among others.
Ebrahim, the chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has made “Moral Governance” his governance rallying cry, apparently to assure BARMM residents of his administration’s fidelity to its sworn mandates, responsibilities, and tasks.
The Php289-million new projects for more infrastructures in the region is being eyed to be implemented region-wide.
On December 12, Interior Naguib G. Sinarimbo led here in the city the signing of memoranda of agreement (MOA) with 18 local government units (LGUs) for the implementation of planned infrastructure projects which include barangay halls, public markets, legislative building, and a public terminal.
Two-storey barangay halls will be constructed in still unidentified villages in the towns of Balindong, Marantao, Pagayawan, Calanogas, Malabang, Kapai, and Tamparan in Lanao del Sur; Parang and Buldon in Maguindano del Norte; and in Cotabato City.
Furthermore, six public markets will also rise at the towns of Albarka, Hadji Muhammad Ajul, and Lamitan City in Basilan; Sitangkai in Tawi-Tawi; Kapatagan in Lanao del Sur; and Sultan Mastura in Maguindanao del Norte.
Another construction is a public terminal in Malabang, Lanao del Sur, and a legislative building in Kabuntalan, Maguindanao del Norte.
More “dividends of peace” forthcoming to BARMM LGUs, communities
The LGUs will implement the projects while the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) will monitor their progress.
“Our hope is that the projects will improve governance in the LGUs and benefit our constituents,” said Sinarimbo, adding that most of the projects are barangay halls as most villages do not have them yet.
Present during the MOA signing ceremony was Pagayawan Mayor Khalida Sanguila, who said, “We have been longing to have a barangay hall for a long time, even if it’s just one, it’s a big thing for us, how much more if we have five barangay halls? Thank you so much to the Bangsamoro Government.”
According to Sinarimbo, MILG is currently implementing the construction of 250 barangays halls across the region, with another 100 next year. He said the goal is to complete 600 village halls by 2025 which the BARMM government promised to the LGUs of the region.
The Bangsamoro region, established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the 63 SGA villages that voted “yes” in a plebiscite in January and February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas, the Bangsamoro region has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; Maguindanao, 36; Sulu, 19; and Tawi-Tawi, 11. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital) in Maguindanao; Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur. (EDD K. Usman with report from Bangsamoro Information Office/Majid Nur) — (✓)