By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Reinforcing the message that no community would be left behind, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the Bawat Bayan Makikinabang and the Bangsamoro Government Convergence Program in Maguindanao del Norte on Wednesday.
During the ceremonial event, the President personally led the turnover and awarding of assistance to Bangsamoro Ministries, Offices, Agencies (BMOAs), as well as the distribution of Socio-Civic Projects Fund (SCPF) assistance to the Cotabato City LGU and various provincial governments of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
As part of the BBM Program, each barangay in BARMM received P200,000—P100,000 is allocated to fund the education of 5 Presidential scholars, while the other half is designated for key priorities identified by civic leaders within each local community.
President Marcos Jr. underscored the importance of extending financial assistance to financially constrained yet deserving students, “The new knowledge that they gain from their studies, yung kaalaman na yan will help them in their everyday life, [as well as] to help their families and to help their communities, and in that way to help the Philippines.”
The President went on to share an update about the progress of the BBM Program, which includes the distribution of nearly P7 billion in financial assistance to 34,800 barangays nationwide from April 8-July 17.
President Marcos Jr. meanwhile noted the amendments made to the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which he said would pave the way for the conduct of the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Election on the 2nd Monday of September 2026.
Doubling down on his commitment to uplift BARMM, he also noted that from January 2025 to May 2026, the government has provided relief assistance, burial assistance, and medical missions to more than 18,200 beneficiaries, on top of the assistance accorded to more than 26,800 Hajj registrants over the past 2 years.
The Chief Executive concluded, “While we acknowledge the significant progress achieved through the partnership between the national government and the Bangsamoro government, we recognize that there is a shared task [remaining] of building a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Bangsamoro and that work continues.”
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