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- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech & Digital News
COTABATO CITY, May 15, 2024 (SDN) — The Bangsamoro region’s annual sporting competition kicked off with a grand Parade of Athletes on Saturday, December 11, from the City Plaza to the Cotabato State University (CSU) Oval along Sinsuat Avenue.
Headed by Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal, the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) is at the forefront of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Athletic Association (BARMMAA) Meet 2024.
The MBHTE conducted the first regional sporting spectacle in 2020 but had to be suspended for two years in 2021 and 2022 because of the onslaught of the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Covid-19, which originated in Wuhan City, China, made lives across the world a brutal and torturous struggle to live, with quarantines, lockdowns, and non-availability of vaccines in the early months or years.
Globally, as of April 13, 2024, coronavirus cases reached 704,753,890; 7,010,681 fatalities; and 675,619,811 recoveries.
Fortunately, in 2023 life has started returning to “normal” albeit fears the coronavirus is still a menace lurking around.
But the return of some of life’s everyday routines enabled the MBHTE, one of the BARMM’s 15 primary governance structures, to once again conduct BARMMAA Meet in 2023.
So, now, the sporting competition is again a highlight of elementary and secondary student athletes as they showcased their skills and abilities in the world of sports.
Iqbal described aptly the BARMMAA as “a platform that fosters regional identity and pride through interaction among athletes from various parts of the region.”
The Bangsamoro education chief continued, “You remind us that we are not defined by our struggles but by how we face them and rise again. You are the personification of our strength and the ambassadors of our vibrant culture and traditions.”
BARMMAA Meet 2024 revolves around the theme “Empowering Sports for a Stronger United Bangsamoro.” It started on May 11 and concludes today, May 15, with the announcement of winners.
For this year, according to Dr. Yusoph Thong Amino, the delegations from MBHTE’s 11 school divisions offices (SDOs) across the region, run up to more or less 7,000 members, majority of them student athletes at 4,000.
They represent SDOs of Basilan, Lamitan City, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City, Special Geographic Area (SGA), Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur I, Lanao del Sur II, and Marawi City.
For the sporting competition, the elementary and high school athletes are competing in 23 sports events, such as Archery, Arnis, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Boxing, Chess, Basketball, Billiards, Football, Futsal, Para-Games, Pencak Silat, Sepak Takraw, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball, Wrestling, and Wushu.
For those who are not able to watch the competitions on 23 sports events, here’s BARMMAA Meet 2024 in photographs:
The education minister emphasized the importance of just being a participant in the sporting competition.
“To all our athletes competing, your dedication, hard work, and the lessons you will learn along the way are what truly matter. While we hope for your victory, we encourage you not to be disheartened if you cannot stand on the winner’s podium. Your participation alone is a testament to your strength and commitment,” the Iqbal said.
His ministry organized BARMMAA Meet 2024, partnering with the local government of Cotabato City and other partners.
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. (✓)