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COTABATO CITY — The impact of the Supreme Court’s decision cutting off the province of Sulu’s umbilical cord from the Bangsamoro family is being felt in many aspects, governance, employment, education and others.
Remember that the High Tribunal made the ruling in 2024 after voters of Sulu rejected inclusion in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) during the plebiscite in January 2019. Now, presently, Sulu, belongs to Region IX, which is Zamboanga Peninsula.
For employment alone the Bangsamoro government previously had over 6,000 employees from Sulu, majority of them teaching personnel of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) headed by Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal. The MBHTE is one of 15 primary ministries of the BARMM.
So, transition has to be done from BARMM to Region IX, including in education governance. To implement this, the MBHTE has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Commission on Education (CHED) and the Mindanao State University (MSU) for the transition.
Thus, pursuant to Executive Order No. 91, titled “Further Ensuring the Continuity of Governmental Operations and Uninterrupted Delivery of Critical Public Services in the Province of Sulu, Declaring the Province of Sulu as Part of Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), and for Other Purposes,” the delivery of educational services of the Hadji Butu School of Arts and Trades (HBSAT) and Lapak Agricultural College (LAC) is currently undergoing transition from the MBHTE to a State University or College (SUC) under CHED the jurisdiction.
Pending their formal integration into the MSU, to ensure continuity of operations and uninterrupted delivery of educational services, the following are the roles and responsibilities for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026:
- 1. MBHTE-BARMM shall be responsible for the payment of Personnel Services (PS), including salaries and benefits of all officials and employees of HBSAT and LAC until
FY 2026 only. - 2. CHED shall provide funding support for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) requirements of both institutions for FY 2026, subject to compliance with the applicable documentary requirements of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and in accordance with existing government budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules and regulations.
In addition, as part of the developmental function of CHED, it shall conduct evaluation of the institution and propose for their manpower and facility development.
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Meanwhile, the MBHTE continues its commitment to achieving quality education in BARMM anchoredon providing a safe, inclusive, and conducive learning environment for every Bangsamoro learner.
Through the years, MBHTE has continuously built classrooms and educational facilities across the region to support better learning conditions.
And another milestone is reached as the Ministry officially turned over newly completed school buildings, bringing education closer to communities and opening more opportunities for learners.
The Bangsamoro region, established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 CAB, is made up 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 Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages — now eight new municipalities — 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. (✓)