KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 14 June) ― The 63 villages from six towns in North Cotabato that opted to join the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) four years ago will form at least eight municipalities, officials said.
Representatives from the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area attend a consultation for the formulation of the BARMM’s development plan in October 2022. Photo courtesy of the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority
The 63 villages are collectively called the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area (SGA).
Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, Bangsamoro Parliament Deputy Speaker, noted Tuesday that members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority’s (BTA) Local Government Committee are keen on passing the bills for the creation of the eight municipalities out of the Bangsamoro SGA.
The eight municipalities are proposed to be created in the towns of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit and Pigcawayan, all located in North Cotabato, a province near Maguindanao del Norte.
In December 2022, the Government of the Day filed eight bills seeking to establish the municipalities of Pahamudin, Kadayangan, Kabalukan, Northern Kabacan, Kapalawan, Malmar, Tugunan and Ligawasan.
The Government of the Day refers to the majority party in the Bangsamoro Parliament, which is dominated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the former rebel group that forged the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) with the Philippine Government in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
The CAB provides for the creation of a Bangsamoro region, which was realized following the plebiscites in January and February 2019 that ratified Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM.
Arnado said the lack of municipalities for residents in the SGA has hindered their access to essential programs and services rendered by the Bangsamoro government and the municipal governments.
“If the bills are passed into law, the residents would have a functional, accountable and competent local government unit to cater to their day-to-day needs,” she said in a report from the Bangsamoro Parliament’s Public Information, Publication and Media Relations Division.
Member of Parliament Aida Silongan expressed hope the bills for the creation of the eight municipalities will be approved by the plenary before the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 30.
In this way, the plebiscite establishing the eight towns can be held simultaneously with the Barangay ang Sangguniang Kabataan polls, she added.
Silongan said that public consultations for the proposed measure have been conducted in some parts of North Cotabato.
Once the bills are enacted, the newly created municipalities will have their own local government units with elected officials who will be responsible for addressing the specific needs and concerns of their respective communities. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
