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By EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
COTABATO CITY (SDN) — Educators and learners in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), it appears, have found an ally in Sen. Sherwin “Win” B. Gatchalian.
In fact, Gatchalian had expressed favorable impressions on the appointment of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chief Negotiator Mohagher M. Iqbal as head of the Bangsamoro government’s Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE). The ministry is one of the 15 main governance organs of the BARMM.
“Ako po ay tuwang-tuwa, puso ko ay umaapaw sa tuwa. Ito ay senyales na ang bagong BARMM government ay bibigyan ng malaking pagpapahalaga ang sector ng education dahil nagtalaga po sila ng napakataas na personalidad para mamuno po sa sector ng education dito sa BARMM,” Gatchalian says in Pilipino at the 1st Provincial Education Summit on June 6 in Lamitan City, Basilan, as he makes a gesture indicating Iqbal’s stature.
(Translation: I am very elated. My heart is spilling with happiness. This is a sign that the new BARMM government will give big importance to the education sector because they appointed a high-ranking personality in the education sector in BARMM.”
“Iyan ay isang senyales na mahalagang-mahalaga ang pagaaral at edukasyon po ng ating kabataan,” the senator adds.
(Translation: That’s an indication that going to school and the education of our youth are very important.)
The senator from Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, also voiced favorable sentiments on the setup of the MBHTE for having under its wings the four education sub-sectors, such as Early Childhood, Basic, Higher, and Technical Education. He chairs the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture. He was one of the key guests and speakers of the event.
Iqbal wears many hats in the Mindanao peace process between the Philippine government and the MILF. He is a revolutionary, educator, author, and peace negotiator.
His MBHTE administration runs on the maxim that “No Bangsamoro learner shall be left behind”.
He is a member of the MILF Central Committee, chair of both the group’s Committee on Information and Peace Negotiating Panel. He also chairs the Peace Implementing Panel of the MILF, which oversees the implementation of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
Iqbal authored under his pen name “Salah Jubair” the “Bangsamoro, A Nation under Endless Tyranny: History of the Muslims in the Philippines” and “Long Road to Peace: Inside the GRP-MILF Peace Process”.
Under his leadership since 2019 at the MBHTE, the BARMM education chief has been putting in place vital education reforms in the autonomous region, including the hiring of thousands of new teaching and non-teaching personnel, adding more classrooms through the construction of new school buildings, providing IT equipment like personal computers (PCs), laptops, tablets, printers, electric fans, clocks, Teachers’ Kits, Learners’ Kits, and school supplies.
On May 10 to 15, Iqbal traveled to Jolo, Patikul, Panamao, and Siasi, all in Sulu, in Languyan Island and Bongao in Tawi-Tawi where he delivered and distributed around Php70 million worth of IT equipment and school supplies.
In a related development, Gatchalian pointed out that he was also happy upon knowing the education sector setup in the BARMM where Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, Higher Education, and Technical Education are all under one roof at the MBHTE.
Gatchalian: Education is a continuum
“When I learned that education is only under one house in BARMM I am sure that Mr. Iqbal studied this. It’s because the problem (on education) in the national setting is coordination between Basic Education, Higher Education, and TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority),” he emphasizes.
The senator narrated a joke he heard (in Manila) that “CHED (Commission on Higher Education), DepEd (Department of Education), and TESDA they coordinate only when they were taking a snack. If they are not having a snack, they are not coordinating.”
“But we know that education is a continuum. Our practitioners know that, from Early Education to Basic Education to Tertiary Education to Tech-Voc (Technical Education),” he points out. “Even among teachers is a continuum. So, we saw the problem in the national (setting) that when it comes to education our education institutions are not talking to each other.”
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 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 BARMM 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. (✓)