A news article entitled “Mindanao airports now under MoTC” published by The Manila Times broadsheet last month is misleading.
Only the airports in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have been turned over to the MoTC, which stands for the Ministry of Transportation and Communication.
MoTC has jurisdiction only over areas within the BARMM and not in the entire Mindanao, which is composed of 28 provinces.
BARMM comprises the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato, and 63 villages from six towns in North Cotabato now called the Special Geographic Area.
The Times article clearly stated that the MoTC, through its Bangsamoro Airport Authority (BAA), will manage all airports in the Bangsamoro region after the turnover by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), an agency under the Department of Transportation, of its responsibilities to the BAA last September. https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/09/26/news/regions/mindanao-airports-now-under-motc/1859824?fbclid=IwAR3qDjTwTSUKBvO2-u8MUmd7YKURfqspanbv85st8HnsdPg1ExpUZb1iF4U
The title of the article, however, was misleading as CAAP, and not the MoTC, is still managing all other airports in Mindanao outside the Bangsamoro region.
The MoTC will only manage the Cotabato airport in Maguindanao, Sanga-Sanga and Mapun airports in Tawi-Tawi, Jolo airport in Sulu, and the non-operational airports in Wao and Malabang in Lanao del Sur.
The Bangsamoro region was created in January 2019 following a successful plebiscite that ratified Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM.
The establishment of the Bangsamoro region is anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
