BTA to assume ARMM leadership Feb. 26

By Noel Punzalan/PNA

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), headed by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Al Haj Murad Ebrahim as chief minister, on Tuesday will assume the leadership of an interim body that will govern the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

On Monday afternoon, MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar, head of the now-defunct Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), will hand over the leadership of the body to Ebrahim.

The assumption of Ebrahim will be facilitated by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). Ebrahim will lead the 80-man BTA whose members took their oath in Malacañang last February 22.

The collegial body is composed of representatives of the MILF and the government, including incumbent officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“As compared to ARMM, the BARMM has wider political powers, including fiscal autonomy,” Murad said in an interview over radio DXMS here Monday.

OPAPP Secretary Carlito Galvez said 12 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) were also named members of the BTA and not only five as earlier reported.

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