The passage into law of the bill seeking the creation of the Kutawato Province would greatly help advance the government’s goal of achieving long-lasting peace in Mindanao, Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said.
At the hearing of the Senate Committee on Local Government on Senate Bill No. 2875, Ejercito said he sees the necessity of creating the Kutawato Province within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which seeks to cover residents from 63 “orphaned” villages that joined the region and ensure that they can exercise their right to suffrage.
Padilla filed SB 2875, which seeks to include the towns of Pahamuddin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Old Kaabakan, Kapalawan, Malidegao, Tugunan, and Ligawasan im the Kutawato province.
According to Padilla, the creation of the province would streamline the delivery of basic services and enhance local government operations within the region.
“In furtherance of our goal of lasting peace, the residents of the identified territorial jurisdiction of BARMM were given the right to vote to ratify their inclusion in the region. When 63 barangays from the province of Cotabato voted to become part of the BARMM, they became part of the so-called Special Geographic Area (SGA) which later voted to create eight new municipalities,” said Ejercito, who chairs the local government panel, during the hearing on Wednesday, December 4.
“These eight new municipalities now have a peculiar situation wherein they do not belong to any of the BARMM provinces,” he noted.
Since the Senate had conducted a hearing to discuss the proposed postponement or resetting of the BARMM election, the senator said one of the issues discussed is the inability of residents of these 63 villages to vote during the elections.
The primary cited reason was that these villages do not belong to any province.
“To ensure that the residents of the 63 barangays will not be disenfranchised in the 2025 national and local elections, I support the proposed bill of Senator Robin Padilla, to legislate the creation of the SGA into the ‘Kutawato Province’,” he said.
“Naniniwala po ako na mahalaga ang karapatang bumoto; ang karapatang mamili. Nararapat lamang po na siguruhin ng ating pamahalaan na walang mapagkakaitan ng karapatang ito (I believe that the right to vote is important; the right to choose their leaders. It is only fitting that our government ensure that no one is denied this right),” he added.
“Sana po ay magsilbing instrumento ang pagsasabatas ng SB No. 2875 para mabigyan ng pagkakataon na makaboto ang ating mga kababayan mula sa 63 barangays ng Special Geographic Areas (I hope that the enactment of SB No. 2875 will serve as an instrument to give our countrymen from the 63 barangays of the Special Geographic Areas the opportunity to vote),” Ejercito stressed.