ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Bangsamoro government will welcome Cotabato City as an integral part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region In Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Tuesday, December 15.
According to BARMM Minister for Interior and Local Government Naguib Sinarimbo, this would be in fulfilment of the mandate given by the majority of its people in the January 21, 2019 plebiscite ratifying the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Sinarimbo said on Monday that President Duterte had given his go-signal on October 19 to transfer the supervision of Cotabato City to BARMM.
“Nagdecide si Pangulo na sundin ang pinagkasunduan last year sa Malacañang na iturn-over ang supervision over the city of Cotabato to the BARMM (The President decided to follow the agreement last year in Malacanang to turn over the supervision of the city of Cotabato to BARMM),” he said.
.
“We will make sure that BARMM development will echo in the city, being the administrative capital, and celebrate the diversity it has with no constituency left behind regardless of faith, ethnicity, or affiliation,” BARMM Chef Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim said on Monday.
Ebrahim also vowed to “upscale services that can further boost the potential of Cotabato City, unique with own context and in support to its existing resources”.
“We acknowledge that the political process towards Cotabato City’s formal turnover was not easy, but continuing the lines of division will not help us in making our collective aspiration a reality,” the chief minister of BARMM said.
“As such, there is a need for all of us to come together as one community dedicated to the city’s collective advancement,” Ebrahim added.
He admitted that there were differences in the opinions, principles and apprehensions that painted a stark contrast to the result of the historic plebiscite.
“BARMM government is asking our dear brothers and sisters in Cotabato City to find commonalities among our differences, to choose hope over fear, to choose unity over division, and to work together in creating the Bangsamoro-reflective on our shared stories as Moros, Christian settlers, and indigenous community,” he said.
Ebrahim emphasized that “we have more work to do in order to realize genuine autonomy and to manifest the agreement in the peace process”.
Sinarimbo noted that the transfer of supervision was decided during a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Relations Body (IGRB) on November 27.
The IGRB is a mechanism mandated to coordinate and resolve issues on intergovernmental relations between the National government and Bangsamoro government. Effective October 15, Cotabato City will be included in the core territory of BARMM.