COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 24 June) — Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has issued a directive requiring all appointed and designated ministers, deputy ministers, and heads of offices and agencies to tender their unqualified courtesy resignations.
Macacua’s order via memorandum circular 007 dated June 23 was in response to complaints against BARMM officials and his attempt “to improve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery” as the transition period of the Bangsamoro government draws to a close.
The memorandum circular mandates that all covered officials submit their courtesy resignations no later than the close of office hours on Monday, June 30.
The move suggests a potential cabinet revamp or reshuffling as the BARMM government prepares for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Earlier, top executives of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) and the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) were reported to have been dragged into anomalous transactions totaling ₱2.5 billion.
Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, however, denied the reports of anomalies in the MBHTE’s procurement transactions that have circulated on social media, branding them as “baseless.”
He said the supplies purchased by the ministry, including the learners’ and teachers’ kits, underwent “strict internal and external controls, in full compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations” and pertinent issuances from the Commission on Audit (COA).
The complaint stemmed from unnamed people claiming to be MBHTE insiders, who alleged that the agency’s procurement process was rigged to favor relatives of certain high-ranking officials and asked the Office of the President and the COA to investigate.
The allegation was the supposed disbursement of ₱1.7 billion within just a day for the payment of instructional kits without proper review.
Iqbal, who is also vice chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, defended himself and said the allegations are “grossly misleading and overlooked the layered controls within our financial systems.”
At the MILG , Minister Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba also denied any anomalies pertaining to the purchase of ₱680 million worth of rice supply for the stockpile of emergency relief goods of BARMM’s Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence.
She denied claims that JB Pharma and Trade Center that won the supply bid was a “dummy” firm of her husband, Salihwardi Alba.
The minister denied the allegations that the purchase was made despite no emergency purposes and was not delivered in full, as portrayed by an unnamed complainant who filed a case at the Office of the Ombudsman.
Lawyer Rasol Mitmug Jr., Deputy Floor Leader of the Bangsamoro Parliament, will chair the Blue Ribbon Committee of the region to investigate the allegations and complaints.
In his memorandum, Macacua said that in order “to ensure uninterrupted public services,” all officials concerned will continue to report for work and perform “only their routinary functions not involving discretion” until a decision is made regarding their courtesy resignations.
The order includes a stern warning for non-compliance: those who fail or refuse to tender resignation before the deadline will be “deemed resigned.” (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
