“Both provinces will have corporate powers and general powers that include having a common seal and having the power to create its sources of revenue and to levy taxes, fees, and charges among others.”
— Philippine Communications Office
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By EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
MANILA, 5th April 2023 (SDN) — Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte now have their first chief executives, Officers-in-Charge (OICs) Bai Mariam S. Sangki and Abdulraof A. Macacua, respectively.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. designated Mangudadatu and Macacua to lead the two new provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Macacua, erstwhile chief of staff of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro senior minister, took his oath before the President today in Malacanang. He was with his wife. In the MILF, he was known by his nom de guerre, Sammy Gambar.
Mangudadatu was the last governor of the undivided Maguindanao province, one of the component provinces of the Bangsamoro region.
Marcos also named Bai Fatima Ainee Limbona Sinsuat and Datu Nathaniel Sangacala Midtimbang as OICs of the Office of the Vice Governor, respectively, of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur.
The BARMM, 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, Mguindanao del Sur, and Maguindanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the 63 barangays or villages dubbed Special Geographic Area (SGA) that voted “yes” in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas the region has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; undivided 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.
Republic Act No. 11550 split Maguindanao into the two new provinces. Voters approved in a huge vote the split in a plebiscite on September 17, 2022.
Macacua appointment serves Marcos administration’s mainstreaming of peace process
Immediately after, speculations were rife as to who would become Maguindanao del Norte’s first and pioneer governor. Turned out it is Macacua; before his appointment to the position his name was already being whispered in the Moro community. Early on, no one doubted that Mangudadatu would be leading Maguindanao del Sur.
A news released posted on https://pco.gov.ph announced the designations of the two Moro leaders.
“As OIC, Macacua is tasked by the President to maintain peace and stability in the region, a prerequisite for the development of the area and its people,” said the PCO statement.
The PCO added that the former Bangsamoro senior minister’s appointment is an expression of the Marcos administration’s “assurance that the province has an able and competent leader while still under the Chief Executive’s administration and guidance.”
Macacua’s appointment as OIC of Maguindanao del Norte serves also to demonstrate the present administration’s to the “mainstreaming of the peace process, as well as the continued engagement of the Bangsamoro community to ensure that gains of democracy, peace, and development in the region.”
Apparently, the President granted the clamor of local chief executives (LCEs) of the municipalities of Maguindanao del Norte as a “crisis” in leadership gave rise to confusion the province’s employees and residents.
The LCEs said in their call to Marcos that having an OIC who would act as governor would stop the confusion among local leaders and residents as they wondered on who to take orders and whom to report following the period after the successful plebiscite.
Then President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed RA No. 11550 into law in May 2021.
With the split, Maguindanao del Norte covers the municipalities of Barira, Buldon, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Datu Odin Sinsuat (the seat of government and capital), Kabuntalan, Matanog, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, North Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, and Talitay. Datu Odin Sinsuat is Maguindanao del Norte’s seat of government.
On the other hand, Maguindanao del Norte has the municipalitites of Ampatuan, Buluan (seat of government and capital), Datu Abdulla Sangki, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Datu Montawal, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun, Guindulungan, Mamasapano, Mangudadatu, Pagalungan, Paglat, Pandag, Rajah Buayan, Sharif Aguak, Sharif Saydona Mustafa, Sultan sa Barongis, Talayan, and South Upi.
“Both provinces will have corporate powers and general powers that include having a common seal and having the power to create its sources of revenue and to levy taxes, fees, and charges among others,” the PCO emphasized. (/)