BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES

COTABATO CITY – More Mindanao leaders are joining the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region's provincial executives in Muslim Mindanao to stand firm for a united Philippines as they reject calls for separation of Mindanao.

Two provincial governors have issued separate statements refusing calls by former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte for a separate Mindanao.

They are Maguindanao del Sur Gov Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu and her son Sultan Kudarat Gov. Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu.

COTABATO CITY – The chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), has called on all Bangsamoro to help protect the gains of the Mindanao peace processes.

BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim issued the statement Friday amid calls by former President Duterte for a separate Mindanao.

“We remain grateful for and acknowledge the significant contributions made by past and present Presidents of the Philippines in arriving at the peaceful settlement of the Bangsamoro Question,” Ebrahim said.

MANILA – The Japanese government has pledged to contribute about USD5 million to a farm-to-school meals program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In a news release Wednesday, the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines reported that Japanese Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko signed and exchanged notes with World Food Programme (WFP) Philippines Country Director at interim Giorgi Dolidze for “The Project for the Promotion of ‘Farm-to-School’ Meals Programme Using Locally Harvested Products in the BARMM.”

COTABATO CITY – The Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-BARMM for the implementation of the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS). The ceremony took place on January 24, 2024, at the Sheik Makhdum Training Hall, PSA-BARMM, Cotabato City.

COTABATO CITY - The account provided by Wahid Maneged, the deputy brigade commander of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), is not an unusual story; rather, it is an intrinsic aspect of the conflicts that have afflicted the Bangsamoro region in past years.

COTABATO CITY --- The Integrated Provincial Health Office-Lanao del Sur community service programs got a boost with a P1.5 million grant and 20 new wheelchairs from a ranking Bangsamoro regional parliament member, its top official announced on Sunday.

Physician Allen Minalang, chief of the IPHO-Lanao del Sur, told reporters that the regional lawmaker Paisalin Pangandaman Tago, also serving as Bangsamoro transportation and communications minister, turned over to them last week the P1.5 million grant and 20 wheelchairs from his office in Cotabato City.

COTABATO CITY – In its effort to reach more indigent and vulnerable Bangsamoro across the region, the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) handed over P53,156,000 checks to its partner agencies in a ceremony here last week.

Through the Bangsamoro Critical Assistance in Response to Emergency Situations (B-CARES) program, MSSD provided P40 million worth of checks to Mercury Drug Pharmacy, received by its branch manager Ann Zigra Ykutanen, to expedite the claims process and ensure that patients can immediately receive the medicines they need.

COTABATO CITY --- A regional cross-section wage board and the Bangsamoro labor ministry are now finalizing a new pay scheme for workers in the autonomous region for enforcement by February.

Two members of the employers’ sector in the Bangsamoro Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, the lawyer Anwar Malang and the entrepreneur Haron Bandila, separately told reporters here on Friday that members of the BTWPB and officials of the region’s Ministry of Labor and Employment discussed on Thursday the finalization of a new wage order for workers in the region.

LANAO DEL SUR -  As police authorities in the in Bangsamoro region continues their relentless operations against illegal drugs, joint personnel of PDEU/PSOG LDSPPO, PMFC-LDSPPO, 1403rd RMFC, 1402nd RMFC, PIU-LDSPPO, and Tugaya MPS conducted a buy-bust operation that resulted in the arrest of three high-value individuals (HVI) involved in drug trafficking and seizure of shabu worth Php1,095,480.00 on January 24, 2024 at Brgy. Sugod Mawatan, Tugaya, Lanao del Sur.

COTABATO CITY - Mayors of towns around the erstwhile iconic main enclave of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Maguindanao del Norte are ready to help push forward Malacañang’s 20-year development plan aiming to transform the area into an economic hub.