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(SDN) — Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal has welcomed the plans of the Commission on Audit (COA) to send a team from Manila to go over some transactions of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE).
Iqbal, who wears many hats in the Bangsamoro peace process, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) vice chairman for Committee on Information, peace panel chief negotiator, chairman of the Peace Implementing Panel (PIP), and others, welcomed COA’s probe.
“We are not hiding anything here, everything is documented,” he assures in Filipino during an interview with Ali G. Macabalang, Manila Bulletin correspondent in Central Mindanao. “So, I repeat and reiterate that we welcome the investigation so that the whole truth and nothing but the truth will come out.”
BARMM’s education minister recalled that even before COA’s probe there were posts on social media making allegations about the over Php1.7 billion transactions. There was no signature or name of the complainant, he added.
He said whether the allegations are “legitimate concern for good governance or ‘paninira lang’ (just defamation), I am not a position to determine which of the two possibilities is the real one.”
But though the allegations did not bear the name of any complainant, Iqbal says “that’s beside the point. As far as we are concerned, we welcome the investigation, so that at least, once and for all we will know the truth.”
The MBHTE is one of the 15 primary ministries of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) which was established in January 2019 through the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). On March 27, 2014, the Philippine Government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the CAB, ending the Moro people’s decades of struggle for self-determination and bringing much-sought peace and stability in Southern Philippines, particularly Central Mindanao.
BARMM spokesman confirms receipt of COA letter to Bangsamoro leadership
Resulting from the CAB, through the BOL, is the Bangsamoro region now comprised of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi; as well as the 63 barangays or villages dubbed the Special Geographic Area (SGA) carved out of North Cotabato province now made up of eight new municipalities.
On August 27, Bangsamoro Government Spokesperson Mohammad Asnin K. Pendatun issued a statement confirming receipt of COA’s letter to BARMM interim Chief Minister Abdulraof A. Macacua about the agency’s decision on a special audit team on the MBHTE’s disbursements.
“As an institution with a shared commitment to uphold integrity, we in the Bangsamoro Government recognize the constitutional authority of COA and will fully cooperate and provide assistance throughout the audit process,” Pendatun says in the one-page statement.
Speaking for the BARMM, he assured the public that the Bangsamoro Government is taking these matters seriously, “and we will continue to act with diligence, fairness, and in the best interest of the Bangsamoro.”
On August 11, COA Chair Gamaliel A. Cordoba wrote the BARMM chief minister informing him of the plans to conduct a special audit based on complaints made against the MBHTE on its two disbursements, such as over Php1.7 billion and more than Php449 million.
COA said in its letter that it is acting upon receipt of complaints on the two issues that “merit the conduct of a special audit.”
It added that the agency is now constituting its team for the task in the BARMM.
Meanwhile, in a post on his Facebook page, Alimudin Cabatuan Belon described Iqbal’s leadership as “a beacon of resilience and inspiration for educators, learners, and communities across BARMM.” — EKU/SDN (/)