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- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
DUSIT THANI MANILA, Makati City, Metro Manila — Starting at least during the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001-2010), attempts were already made to mainstream the madrasah education in the Philippines.
Arroyo even established in 2004 the Madrasah Development Coordinating Council (MDCC) co-chaired by Mona Valisno, then the presidential assistant on education, and Datu Zamzamin L. Ampatuan, the then head as executive director of the now-defunct Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA).
“Education is the solution to the peace and order problem, thus, the MDCC will play a very important role in the peace process,” said Valisno then, per the Manila Bulletin report on September 10, 2004.
Arroyo created the MDCC through Executive Order 283 on the recommendation of then Secretary Silvestre Afable, granting the MDCC responsibility “for the effective management of available financial assistance to the madrasah system from local, bilateral and multilateral institutions, including activities related thereto.”
Did the Arroyo administration’s initiatives to mainstream the madrasah education to help win the peace in Mindanao succeed? Perhaps, today’s officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) may have an idea.
Anyway, today’s event in this five-star hotel should prove to be a big boost to madrasah education, at least in the Bangsamoro region comprised of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan and Marawi; and the Special Geographic Area (SGA) with eight municipalities.
Per an invitation that SDN — SciTech & Digital News received from the organizers, showed that the MBHTE headed by Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal together with the Australian government’s Education Pathways to Peace Program for BARMM, DepEd and other national officials, foreign diplomats, Moro leaders, and others are expected to be on hand to witness and celebrate the signing of the BARMM Madrasah Education Strategic Plan.
The program starts at around 12 noon.
Invited to the milestone signing included BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim; Iqbal; MBHTE Director General for Madaris Education Tahir Gandawali Nalg; Director Sheikh Abdulgafor Abdulhamid, Director, Directorate General for Madaris Education (DGME); Benamine B. Ubpon, Planning Officer III; from Australian Embassy, Deputy Head of Mission Dr. Moya Collett; from Indonesia, Dr. Muhammad Hafidz Nasrullah, Rector, Universitas Islam Darul Ulum (Darul Ulum Islamic University), and many other guests.
Iqbal and Nasrullah were scheduled to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). (/)