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COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Government headed by Ahod Ebrahim “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim has declared a State of Calamity in the entire autonomous region because of the El Niño, now affecting a large swath of the Philippines.
Ebrahim’s office released the OCM Proclamation No. 002 s. 2024, declaring a State of Calamity in the region due to the harsh effects of El Niño in the autonomous region.
El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, resulting in extreme drought or dry spells.
According to the Proclamation, the declaration will aid the affected communities and expedite the significant interventions of the interim government, including response operations and recovery efforts.
“This declaration will effectively control the prices of the basic goods and commodities for the affected areas and afford the BARMM and its LGUs (local government units) ample latitude to utilize and appropriate funds for rescue, recovery, relief, and rehabilitation efforts of, and to continue to provide basic services to, affected populations, in accordance with the law,” the document provides.
Under Republic Act No. 11054, otherwise known as the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the Chief Minister has the power to proclaim a state of calamity during the occurrence of natural disasters that damage life or property in the region.
As of today, May 1, the mainland BARMM recorded 39 °C of heat index according to the latest forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), an agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The Proclamation also urged the concerned BARMM ministries, offices, and agencies (MOAs) to exert the necessary measures to address the ongoing calamity.
“All ministries and other government agencies concerned are hereby directed to implement and execute medical assistance, relief, and rehabilitation work in accordance with pertinent operational plans and directives,” it stipulates.
Boosting responsiveness and timeliness to social protection services and building resilience of communities to human-induced and natural catastrophes align with the 7th and 8th priority agenda of Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ebrahim.
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. With the recent plebiscite at SGA, the BARMM now has eight new municipalities as residents voted “Yes”.
According to the Philippine Atlas BARMM has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities (plus eight newly established under the SGA: 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. (✓) — (Johamin Inok/BIO)