COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 17 May 2026) — Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulraof A. Macacua has asked Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal to tender his irrevocable resignation by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 18, following the report from the special audit by
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 7 May 2026) — Bangsamoro Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof “Sammy” Macacua has officially entered the race for the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections, his son filing his candidacy on his behalf on Thursday as representative for the
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 6 May 2026) — After a long delay, the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have officially begun. Lawyer Rey Sumalipao, regional director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 03 May) – The newly-appointed acting chief of the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has vowed to ensure a “safe, proper, and honest elections” in September 2026. “We will secure the
MindaNews / 23 April — The Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has established satellite offices in Basilan and Tawi-Tawi to bring the Bangsamoro government closer to its constituents in the
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 April) – Moro leaders on Tuesday welcomed the appointment of former Local Governments Secretary Mel Senen Sevilla Sarmiento as the new Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (PAPRU) vice Carlito Galvez, a retired Army general
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 21 April) – The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy (MENRE) and the Forest Foundation Philippines (FFP) have forged a partnership for forest conservation and restoration in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 19 April) – Qatari investment firm Al Mansour Holding has committed to invest in the construction of 30,000 housing units in Mindanao, including the key cities of General Santos, Cagayan de Oro and Cotabato, Secretary
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 April) — Continued improvements in the peace and security conditions in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will lay the foundation for potential investments from major Japanese companies, the Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 18 April) — Women in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Thursday called for the complete delivery of socioeconomic support for former combatants, saying gaps in implementation continue to undermine the decommissioning process.
MindaNews / 17 April — At least 451 former combatants from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are all set for the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, a once-in-a-lifetime sacred experience most of
(Delivered at the “National Solidarity Conference on Palestine and Call for Peace in the Middle East” by Dr. Mansoor Limba on 10 April 2026 at the Acacia Hotel in Davao City) First, let me greet you with the greetings of
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 8 April) — A total of 23,649 tricycle drivers in Region 12 and the Bangsamoro region have been identified as recipients of cash relief assistance (CRA) worth ₱5,000 each to help ease their burden due to
The September 2026 BARMM parliamentary elections are being framed as a democratic milestone. That is true. But it is not the whole truth. This election is also a stress test of peace. For years, Bangsamoro politics was held together by
CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 02 April) — Twelve years ago, the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro at Malacañang Palace — a historic accord born of nearly two
PASIG CITY (MindaNews / 31 March) — MILF Vice Chairman Mohagher Iqbal said something significant recently. The UBJP, the MILF’s political party, will accept the results of free, fair, and honest elections. That is a meaningful democratic commitment. Let me
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 30 March) — The spokesperson of the Police Regional Office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) on Monday said the Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) was responsible for the Saturday night ambush of a police patrol car in Shariff
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 29 March) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12317 on March 25, 2026, resetting the first regular parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to the second Monday of
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 March) — Violence against women remains a pressing issue in the Philippines. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 17.5% of women aged 15–49 have experienced violence from an intimate partner, while thousands of rape cases
*Seven of ten school divisions with the worst reading rates are in the Bangsamoro. This is not a coincidence.* — The EDCOM 2 literacy data on readers triggered a predictable response: more reading programs, more teacher training, more classroom budgets
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 25 March)— The Bangsamoro government is exploring the legality of directly importing fuel from neighboring Muslim countries and fast-tracking the exploration of local energy reserves amid uncertainties in fuel supply due to US-Israeli war against Iran.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 March) – The Presidents of the three Jesuit-run Ateneo universities in Mindanao are urging Malacañang to “act with urgency and clarity” and appoint a new chair of the government’s Peace Implementing Panel, as the peace process
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 24 March) — Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua has asked executives of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to lessen “SOP” demands from contractors. Macacua, speaking during the Bangsamoro Government Executive –
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 March) — The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) need to “re-commit to the principles” underpinning their shared journey to peace as implementation of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) remains incomplete,
PASIG CITY (MindaNews / 23 March) – The MILF’s unaddressed grievances are real. What is being built around them in the political shadows is the more urgent problem. The Marcos-Duterte UniTeam ended in disaster. What will replace it is being
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 20 March) — Certain financial transactions involving the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) violated processes and standards set by the Government Procurement Reform Act,
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 20 March) — While most of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will mark Eid’l Fitr or the end of Ramadan on Saturday, March 21, Marawi City decided to hold congregational prayers for the event
OPAPRU’s response correctly defends the peace architecture. It does not address what actually broke — or how the process moves forward when trust cannot be rebuilt. The MILF’s declaration of a temporary pause on some aspects of engagement under the
The MILF paused the peace process this week. Manila needs to understand why — and what kind of appointment will actually fix it. In a Statement dated March 12, 2026, the MILF declared a temporary pause on all substantive peace
TAGUIG CITY (MindaNews / 15 March) Skeptics would be justified in asking a fair question: haven’t we heard these ideas before? Renewable energy corridors, agro-industrial value chains, logistics modernisation, halal hubs, and diaspora investment have all appeared in development plans for Mindanao over
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 14 March) – The leader of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) hailed the House of Representatives for setting the date of the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Mohammad Yacob,
MindaNews / 13 March – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reaffirmed his administration’s continuing support to the Bangsamoro peace process and for a progressive Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). During the Grand Iftar (breaking of fast) he hosted
PASIG CITY (MindaNews / 13 March) – Six misconceptions are costing us the peace process. — When the MILF suspended its decommissioning commitments in July 2025, the immediate response from many quarters was predictable: calls for dialogue, assurances of commitment
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 12 March) — Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to intensify preparations for the first Bangsamoro parliamentary
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 12 March) — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has registered investments worth at least ₱2.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, indicating growing investor confidence in the fledging region. Mohamad Omar
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 11 March) — All the four provinces in Region 12 (Soccsksargen Region) have officially adopted a four-day workweek schedule as austerity and conservation measures amid the energy crunch triggered by the conflict between the United States
Siging of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro on March 27, 2014 in the gardens of Malacanang. Photo courtesy of Julius Mariveles / Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
PASIG CITY (MindaNews / 08 March) — On July 26, 2018, Republic Act 11054 was signed into law. On January 25, 2019, the Bangsamoro people ratified it. The applause — in Malacañang, in Camp Darapanan, in the offices of international donors
MindaNews / 4 March — Women in the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has something to celebrate during National Women’s Month: a recent fatwa (religious edict) issued by Islamic jurists in the region declared that forcing a rape victim
Bangsamoro legislators at the House of Representatives during the post deliberation of House Bill 8220 which aims to reschedule the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Photo courtesy of lawyer and BARMM Member of Parliament Ishak Mastura.
The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is in danger of becoming the next failed Philippine peace agreement — not because the agreement is flawed, and not because the Bangsamoro people are unready, but because the legal foundation on which it
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 28 February) — In some stories, they make it across and no one hears from them again. In others, girls — between 13 and 23 — are intercepted and rescued before they even reach the water.
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 26 February) – The growth of the fisheries sector in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has remained a major concern of international development partners working in the region. A year after it
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 February) – While the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has made significant gains in improving the plight of children, “too many children are still being left behind,” a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
A “payong-payong” driver maneuvers outside the main entrance of the Bangsamoro government complex in Cotabato City. MindaNews photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO
The Bangsamoro peace process is in trouble. It is getting worse by the day. And the most dangerous part is that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. does not appear to be paying attention. This is not a new dynamic. The Bangsamoro
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 13 February) – The European Union (EU) has poured assistance worth at least P8.5 billion for peace and development initiatives in Mindanao in the past five years , the bulk going to the fledging Bangsamoro Autonomous
QUEZON CITY (MindaNews / 08 February) — As I sit in Speaker Nograles Hall to attend the Congressional Committee Hearing on HB 7236 as a resource speaker, waiting for my name to be called, the silence is often deceptive. In
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 5 February) — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is all set to hold its largest annual gathering of international development partners to tackle and accelerate peace and development initiatives in the region.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 03 February) – The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms approved at 3:59 p.m. on Tuesday a substitute bill setting the date of the 1st Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections to the second Monday of September and every
