BARMM officially assumes control of 63 NorCot villages
Published Nov 21, 2019 12:00 am
By Ali Macabalang
COTABATO CITY – The management of 63 North Cotabato villages that opted for regional autonomy is now officially under the stewardship of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) governance.
(BANGSAMORO GOVT / MANILA BULLETIN)
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Hadji Murad” Ebrahim received the symbolic key from the delegation of North Cotabato officials led by Vice Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza, who is serving as acting governor, in formal ceremony at the Sahriff Kabunsuan Cultural Center (SKCC) here on Wednesday.
The SKCC is the session hall of the 80-member BARMM Parliament, which subsequently concurred with the turnover of responsibility as a matter of procedural protocol.
In her ceremonial speech, Mendoza said the provincial government was “honored to be part of this history, to partake with (the Bangsamoro) of the common struggle for everlasting peace.”
She described the event as “a continuing reminder of our unified cooperation and love for Mindanao.”
Chief Minister Ebrahim reiterated his administration’s commitment for the 63 North Cotabato villages to receive “utmost care” similar to that of other regular component-local government units (LGUs) under the Bangsamoro.
“Rest assured we shall do our best to serve the people of the 63 barangays in continuance of your provincial slogan for ‘serbisyong totoo’ in conjunction with our avowed policy for regional moral governance,” Ebrahim told Mendoza’s delegation.
Regional spokesman Naguib Sinarimbo, concurrent BARMM’s Minister of Interior and Local Government, said the 63 barangays will be constituted into a special geographic area under an administrator and will continue to receive their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRAs) with additional share from the Bangsamoro’s Bloc Grant and other subsidies that run to a total of some P75-billion annually.
Sinarimbo said the shift to BARMM of the 63 villages’ management was not a case of separation but a “reunification” in the spirit of the defunct Cotabato Empire province.
The Empire Province of Cotabato was established in 1914, with Cotabato City as its capital. Then President Marcos, exercising his Martial Law power, dissolved it in 1973 and created the Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, South Cotabato, and North Cotabato provinces.
BARMM is currently comprised of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, and Lamitan.
Like Cotabato City, 63 of 67 barangays in North Cotabato voted for inclusion in BARMM territory in referendums held last January and February meant also to ratify R.A. 11054 (Bangsamoro Basic Law) that was enacted in July, 2018. The passage of the law was pursuant to provisions of two major peace accords forged by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2013 and 2014.
The 63 barangays are located in North Cotabato’s towns of Pigcawayan, Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, and Pikit.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of North Cotabato passed last month Resolution No. 838 informing the chief minister of its readiness to turn over the management of the 63 villages on November 20.
Bulletin sources said North Cotabato’s elected Governor Nancy Alaan Catamco was displeased with the timing of the turnover ceremony, which was held one day ahead of her official return to office from a 90-day preventive suspension.
Catamco earlier told the Manila Bulletin that the BARMM leadership had assured to host a separate meeting with her to talk over specific arrangements in the management of the 63 barangays.
A BARMM consultant had earlier conceived a plan for the clustering of the 63 villages into groups that may constitute four municipalities.
But Minister Sinarimbo said the BARMM cabinet scrapped the plan in favor of forming the 63 villages into a special geographical unit to be administered by coordinators led by one administrator.
(BANGSAMORO GOVT / MANILA BULLETIN)
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Hadji Murad” Ebrahim received the symbolic key from the delegation of North Cotabato officials led by Vice Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza, who is serving as acting governor, in formal ceremony at the Sahriff Kabunsuan Cultural Center (SKCC) here on Wednesday.
The SKCC is the session hall of the 80-member BARMM Parliament, which subsequently concurred with the turnover of responsibility as a matter of procedural protocol.
In her ceremonial speech, Mendoza said the provincial government was “honored to be part of this history, to partake with (the Bangsamoro) of the common struggle for everlasting peace.”
She described the event as “a continuing reminder of our unified cooperation and love for Mindanao.”
Chief Minister Ebrahim reiterated his administration’s commitment for the 63 North Cotabato villages to receive “utmost care” similar to that of other regular component-local government units (LGUs) under the Bangsamoro.
“Rest assured we shall do our best to serve the people of the 63 barangays in continuance of your provincial slogan for ‘serbisyong totoo’ in conjunction with our avowed policy for regional moral governance,” Ebrahim told Mendoza’s delegation.
Regional spokesman Naguib Sinarimbo, concurrent BARMM’s Minister of Interior and Local Government, said the 63 barangays will be constituted into a special geographic area under an administrator and will continue to receive their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRAs) with additional share from the Bangsamoro’s Bloc Grant and other subsidies that run to a total of some P75-billion annually.
Sinarimbo said the shift to BARMM of the 63 villages’ management was not a case of separation but a “reunification” in the spirit of the defunct Cotabato Empire province.
The Empire Province of Cotabato was established in 1914, with Cotabato City as its capital. Then President Marcos, exercising his Martial Law power, dissolved it in 1973 and created the Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, South Cotabato, and North Cotabato provinces.
BARMM is currently comprised of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, and Lamitan.
Like Cotabato City, 63 of 67 barangays in North Cotabato voted for inclusion in BARMM territory in referendums held last January and February meant also to ratify R.A. 11054 (Bangsamoro Basic Law) that was enacted in July, 2018. The passage of the law was pursuant to provisions of two major peace accords forged by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2013 and 2014.
The 63 barangays are located in North Cotabato’s towns of Pigcawayan, Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, and Pikit.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of North Cotabato passed last month Resolution No. 838 informing the chief minister of its readiness to turn over the management of the 63 villages on November 20.
Bulletin sources said North Cotabato’s elected Governor Nancy Alaan Catamco was displeased with the timing of the turnover ceremony, which was held one day ahead of her official return to office from a 90-day preventive suspension.
Catamco earlier told the Manila Bulletin that the BARMM leadership had assured to host a separate meeting with her to talk over specific arrangements in the management of the 63 barangays.
A BARMM consultant had earlier conceived a plan for the clustering of the 63 villages into groups that may constitute four municipalities.
But Minister Sinarimbo said the BARMM cabinet scrapped the plan in favor of forming the 63 villages into a special geographical unit to be administered by coordinators led by one administrator.