BARMM News
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(SDN) — A Philippine National Police (PNP) Station is rising in the municipality of Maimbung, Sulu, and a new Barangay Hall is ready for turnover in Barangay Lagunde in the Pikit Cluster of the Special Geographic Area (SGA).
Comprised of 63 barangays (villages), the SGA, though in North Cotabato province, is under the governance jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) under the leadership of Chief Minister Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim.
Lawyer Naguib S. Sinarimbo, minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG), reported the newly built Lagunde Barangay Hall is now ready for turnover to the local government unit (LGU). It means the construction has been completed and is about ready to serve the community.
The MILG head assured LGUs of the Bangsamoro region of the ministry’s readiness to continue providing government facilities.
“We continue to provide basic barangay facilities to enhance governance and service delivery in the 63 barangays constituting the Special Geographic Area of the BARMM,” said Sinarimbo, also the regional government’s spokesperson.
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 del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the SGA villages that voted “yes” in a plebiscite in January and February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas 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.
Over on the island province of Sulu, a new Police Station is rising in Maimbung and is about to be completed as well, as seen from photographs provided by Sinarimbo.
He said the construction of the Police Station is progressing on schedule and will soon be turned over to the Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO BAR) contingent in the municipality.
“This is among the many priority projects of the Chief Minister Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim implemented by our Ministry in support of peace and security in the province of Sulu,” said Sinarimbo.
Covered in the “priority projects” of the Bangsamoro parliamentary government is the construction and provision of buildings for the region’s various LGUs, such as Municipal Halls, Police Stations, Barangay Halls, Public Markets, Public Terminals, Tourism Centers, Seawater Desalination Facilities, Water Systems, and others that may develop as the need arises.
Since the birth of the new political entity (NPE) BARMM, Sinarimbo’s MILG had already completed and turned over many of the building projects, still many under construction, and others in planning stage.
The new buildings in the Bangsamoro communities only built during the governance leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since February 2019 when then President Rodrigo R. Duterte named MILF Chairman Ebrahim as Chief Minister serve as the physical manifestation of the “dividends of peace” resulting from the CAB’s implementation.
The transitional Bangsamoro government has until May 2025 to accomplish its mandates and tasks before the region’s first regional election is conducted.
That, of course, is barring any unforeseen hitch that may call for another extension of the life of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA). (✓)