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COTABATO CITY (SDN) — In the course of his stint as head of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal since 2019 has accepted a wide range of visitors.
Foreign dignitaries, political leaders and fellow government officials, traditional leaders, women leaders, and others.
In one of his latest visitors, Iqbal, chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Implementing Panel (PIP), he received Maguindanao del Sur Rep. Datu Mohammad “Tong” Pendatun Paglas, Sr. in his office at the Bangsamoro Government Complex (BGC), here in the city.
A report by the MBHTE Media Unit, said Paglas, one of the children of the popular Moro leader Datu Ibrahim Paglas, Sr., paid a courtesy visit on the MILF chief negotiator on February 5.
“During their meeting, Congressman Paglas engaged in meaningful discussions with Minister Iqbal, focusing on crucial matters related to education in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Recognizing the pivotal role of education in fostering genuine and sustainable economic progress, they explored various strategies and initiatives to enhance the educational landscape in the region,” the MBHTE report pointed out.
The MBHTE is one of the 15 primary ministries of the BARMM and is responsible for education in the region.
Iqbal’s administration has seen many reform initiatives to raise the quality of education in the autonomous region, starting with the hiring of thousands of new teachers as well as non-teaching personnel.
To implement his reform agenda, the Bangsamoro education chief has visited the various component areas of the region, including the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi to deliver much-needed education-related IT equipment, devices, school supplies, and many others.
The MBHTE has also been delivering thousands of armchairs to various schools in the region, Teachers’ Kits and Learners’ Kits to help guide teachers and students in the way of the education sector’s reform agenda.
Paglas a vital cog in many congressional committees
In his visit, the young Paglas and Iqbal “made a commitment to work closely with stakeholders, including educators, parents, and students, in order to collectively shape a brighter future for the region.”
The MBHTE Media Unit said the two Moro leaders’ meeting concluded their discussion “with a dynamic exchange of ideas and a shared determination to transform education into a powerful tool for fostering peace, progress, and prosperity in the Bangsamoro.”
As one of the members of the 19th Congress, the scion of the Paglas patriarch has many advocacies, chief among them revolve around three core pillars, such as education, livelihood assistance, and a steadfast commitment to genuine peace order.
Paglas is either a vice chair or member of many House of Representatives committees, among them: Agriculture and Food, Basic Education and Culture, Poverty Alleviation, Ad-Hoc Committee on Marawi Rehabilitation and Victims Compensation, Disaster Resilience, East ASEAN Growth Area, Economic Affairs, and others.
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. (✓)