BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES

COTABATO CITY – A member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BTA-BARMM) today said legislative works of BTA members are expected to improve following a seminar workshop that empowered them in crafting local laws.

MP Member Bai Maleiha B. Candao said in a statement the training conducted by the University of the Philippines and organized by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process has empowered lawmakers in crafting the region’s Internal Revenue Code.

COTABATO CITY – The Office of the Parliament Speaker organized a three-day ‘Total Performance Management (TPM)’ training for Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) administrative officers on December 6 to 8, 2019 in Cotabato City.

The training, which aimed to further empower BTA staff to level up their organizational skills, was conducted in partnership with the Center for Global Best Practices (CGBP).

MAGUINDANAO-- Shariff Aguak, hometown of the politically powerful Ampatuan family has topped Philippine local governments' municipal peace and order council (POC) performance in two consecutive years.

In a letter to Shariff Aguak Mayor Marop Ampatuan on December 2, Bangsamoro Interior and Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said the town garnered 90.86 percent compliance score in 2018, based on recent POC performance audit.

COTABATO CITY --- Thousands attended the launching this week of the enchanted Yuletide Season amusement park in the surroundings of the local government center in the now peaceful Lamitan City.

Lamitan City, covering more than 40 barangays, is capital of the now markedly peaceful Basilan province, now touted as the new investment frontier of the Bangsamoro region.

Several barangays in Lamitan City were former hotbeds of terror activities of the Abu Sayyaf are now quiet “peace zones,” free from violent Islamic extremists.

COTABATO CITY  – The education sector in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will have the biggest budget for 2020, an indication that education was a priority in the new political entity, a member of Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) today said.

In a statement, Member of Parliament Bai Maleiha B. Candao said the P65.6 billion budget for the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) simply indicates that the BARMM leadership prioritize education.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – One soldier was killed and 6 others were wounded yesterday (November 28) in a counterterrorism operation against the groups of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Dawlah Islamiya Terror Group (DITG) in the areas of Maguindanao.

TACURONG CITY  – Almost 2,000 internally displaced persons have received aid from the local government of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao on Saturday and another relief operations is on schedule, officials said today.

Datu Anwar Kuit Emblawa, municipal information officer and executive secretary of Mayor Engr. Marop B. Ampatuan, said the families have fled their homes when government forces and outlawed gunmen clashed in Shariff Saydona Mustapha on Nov. 24.

MAGUINDANAO  --- The military recovered a total of 14 improvised explosive devices in abandoned enclaves of the Dawlah Islamiya terror group after a spate of clashes with the group last week.

The recovered IEDs were laid around the lairs of the Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, in Shariff Saidona Mustapha town in Maguindanao that members of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Central, or JTFC, cleared from occupation by terrorists last week.

COTABATO CITY - The Bangsamoro Government's proposed P65-billion budget for fiscal year 2020 was approved by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on its third and final reading on Friday, November 30.

BTA-Cabinet Bill No. 31 entitled "An Act appropriating funds for the operation of the Bangsamoro Government from January 1 to December 31, 2020, and other purposes" was approved by the Bangsamoro Parliament, with 48 members voting Yes, 1 voting No, and 5 abstention.

COTABATO CITY - Three members of the Dawlah Islamiyah were torched after military surgical artillery offensives directly hit them in Barangay Pusao, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao Tuesday, the Army said today.

Major Arvin Encinas, spokesperson of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said that troops of the Joint Task Force Central launched surgical operation against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) under Kumander Bungos faction as the main target.