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- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
(SDN) — Member of Parliament (MP) Atty. Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) is the new chief of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG).
She took the helm of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) local government post after the resignation of MILG Minister Atty. Naguib G. Sinarimbo.
The MILG is one of the 15 primary ministries of the Bangsamoro government which, under the captainship of Sinarimbo, was responsible for the construction in the BARMM areas of several Municipal Halls, Public Terminals, Philippine National Police (PNP) Police Stations, Public Terminals, Tourism Center, Public Markets, Barangay Halls, Water Desalination Facilities, and Water Systems’ improvement.
Sinarimbo, who held the MILG post since the BARMM’s creation in 2019, had already turned over several of the MILG completed projects to their particular local government unit (LGU) beneficiaries. Many other projects are still under construction while still others are in the pipeline.
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 Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages 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.
Sinarimbo is a stalwart in the Mindanao peace process, having worked for the national government in the negotiations with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and later under the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). He was a fierce defender of the ill-fated Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), and then the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) which passed through the proverbial needle’s eye in both chambers of Congress. The BOL saw the light of legislative eye under a determined and unwavering full support of the then President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
“I have resigned as the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government effective closing hours yesterday, December 6, 2023,” he said in his post on Facebook a day after.
As he tendered his resignation the former MILG chief met with his “co-workers in the Ministry this morning to personally thank them for all their work and sacrifices over the years. I am confident that we have built a solid bureaucracy in the Ministry with competent and dedicated public servants.”
During the assembly Sinarimbo ceremonially turned over the MILG Seal to Interior Deputy Minister Ibrahim P. Ibay.
Sinarimbo called his exit from the MILG “a renewed sense of freedom,” apparently referring to the huge task of being at the helm of the ministry, navigating labyrinthine political pressures weighed down by immense ocean-deep pressures.
MILG welcomes Dumama-Alba
A day after Sinarimbo’s exit (he was also BARMM spokesperson) from the ministry he learned to love and spent countless hours tackling mountains of workload, Dumama-Alba assumed her new post symbolized by her receiving the MILG Seal from Ibay as witnessed by Bangsamoro Senior Minister Abunawas “Von Al-Haq” Maslamama, some MPs, and ministry officials and personnel.
She paid tribute to her predecessor.
“Malaki po ang respeto ko sa along kagalang-galang na dating Minister at malaki ang naitulong niya sa Bangsamoro Government at sa pamumuno ng MILG. Hindi po mawawala ‘yun at hindi mae-erase, at kayo po ang living testimonies of that,” Dumama-Alba emphasized.
(Translation: I have big respect to my honorable former Minister. He helped in big way the Bangsamoro Government and his leading MILG. That will not be lost or erased, and you are the living testimonies of that.)
Dumama-Alba asked for support and cooperation from the MILG bureaucracy as she prepares to buckle down to work and face the challenges of her new domain.
She expressed her thanks to the BARMM leadership under Chief Minister Ahod Balawag “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim for appointment.
“Nagpapasalamat po akong muli sa trust na ibinigay Ng leadership ng BARMM at sa suporta ng ating fellow Members of Parliament,” said the new MILG head.
(Translation: I am thanking the BARMM leadership again for the trust accorded to me and to the support of our fellow Members of Parliament.)
She also relishes working with the MILG workers.
“I am happy to be working with you and see how we can continue and, perhaps, even enhance and improve what the Ministry can do not only for the Bangsamoro Government but also for the BARMM.”
In response, MILG Interior Affairs Services (IAS) Director Atty. Marvin Mokamad sounded out his support for the new lead.
“The over 300 employees of the Ministry fully support you because we understand that your advocacy is aimed at advancing the Chief Minister’s 12-Point Agenda and Moral Governqnce, si these are the things we are working toward,” the IAS chief said.
Mokamad assured the MILF’s senior and field officials all-out support to Dumama-Alba’s leadership.
“Awhile ago Attorney Sinarimbo gathered us and instructed us to support whoever takes over (the MILG) because it’s also support for the struggle we have,” the IAS head pointed out.
Dumama-Alba’s ascension to the MILG leadership marks her being the first female lead of the Interior and Local Government head of office since the defunct Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and BARMM, the ministry noted.
In the BTA, she is the Floor Leader of the Parliament, and head of the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office (BAGO).
AS he exited the MILG, Sinarimbo reminded ministry’s personnel to continue working hard and sustaining delivery of services. (✓)