BARMM News
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COTABATO CITY — A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the provision of livelihood and skills development assistance to Project TuGoN’s (Tulong ng Gobyernong Nagmamalasakit) beneficiaries was signed by the Ministries of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) and Trade, Investment, and Tourism (MTIT) on December 20, 2022, at the Em Manor Hotel here in the city.
Project TuGoN is a program of BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) being implemented by the MILG headed by Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo. Its goal is to help ex-combatants who abandoned their cause and rejoined mainstream society by providing the necessary humanitarian interventions before they are reintegrated back into their communities.
Lawyer Sinarimbo said that providing them with relief, rehabilitation, and support for their livelihoods is essential if they are to have sources of income as they implement long-lasting reforms.
The MOA, which was signed by Sinarimbo and the MTIT Minister Abu Amri A. Taddik, served as a symbol of the agencies’ shared commitment to helping ex-combatants develop their entrepreneurial skills, learn how to start a business, become financially literate, develop business resiliency, and become productive members of their communities.
In the territory of the BARMM are militant bands operating in the provinces Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. Aside from the six provinces, the Bangsamoro region is also comprised of the cities of Cotabato, Lamintan and Marawi, as well as the 63 barangays (villages) of North Cotabato dubbed Special Geographic Area (SGA) after voting to join the BARMM in a January and February 2019 plebiscite.
Helping Moro former combatants rejoin mainstream society
The BARMM, a new political entity (NPE) was established through Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
After 17 years of protracted peace process, the Philippine Government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) headed by Chairman, and now BARMM Chief Minister “Al-Hajj Murad” Ebrahim signed the CAB, ending the MILF’s struggle for an independent Mindanao state.
In the last stages of the GPH-MILF peace negotiations, the MILF leadership accepted a regional autonomy, which is stronger and better than the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The ARMM lasted for just over 20 years since the time of the then President Corazon C. Aquino.
On September 2, 1996, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) headed by Founding Chairman Nur P. Misuari signed with the GPH the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA).
It is safe to say that with the FBA and CAB, members of the MNLF and the MILF have effectively returned to the fold of the law.
The beneficiaries of Project TuGoN are former combatants of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group from the MILF; Maute Group (MG); and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). However, the BIFF, MG, and ASG are still active in the Bangsamoro region, and are blamed for violence — kidnapping, bombing, and other criminal and terroristic activities. — EDD K. USMAN with report from MILG (/)