By Noel Punzalan/Philippine News Agency
COTABATO CITY — The Ministry of the Interior and Local Government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MILG-BARMM) is set to wrap up Monday the June 16-17 orientation and training activity, which was aimed at strengthening the link between the regional government and the newly-elected local chief executives (LCEs) across the region.
“The purpose of this training is to orient the local officials on the basics of governance, what laws or ordinances they need to enact, special bodies to organize, what steps to take before actually assuming the post on June 30, 2019,” lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, MILG-BARMM minister, said during a press briefing Sunday.
The activity, anchored on the theme “Creating Synergy in the Bangsamoro Towards Moral Governance,” encourages participating LCEs to give inputs on the Islamic perspective on leadership and management, salient features of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) on local governance, and deconstruction of the poverty incidence in the BARMM.
Sinarimbo said the training has been given more significance as the new autonomous Bangsamoro region has just been established, and its officials have just assumed their respective posts.
“Under the law, the term of the (BARMM) transition will last for three years, this coincides with your respective term of three years. What better way to start together, create a vision together, and work together to achieve the vision for our people in the region,” he said.
The training of the newly-elected officials is considered as a first of its kind in the region, where the trainees participate in a series of dialogues focusing on nutrition, education, revenue generation, child-friendly local governance, and peace and order.
BARMM interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, who opened the activity on Saturday (June 15), stressed the need of having continued discussions with local government units (LGUs) in achieving the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.
“It is very important that we have a talk like this, in order to understand everybody and in order to have one common line,” Ebrahim said, adding that more gatherings of such are expected to take place in the future with the LGUs.
Maguindanao Governor-elect Bai Mariam Mangudadatu, for her part, described the activity as “historical”, citing that it is the first time that newly-elected LCEs and appointed officers of BARMM were gathered in one venue.
“Communication is really the best way to bridge the gaps between the LCEs and the key officials of the Bangsamoro government,” she said.
The fledgling Bangsamoro Region comprises the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Marawi, Lamitan, and Cotabato City; and the 63 villages in six North Cotabato towns that voted “yes” for inclusion during the January 21 and February 6 BOL plebiscite this year.
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