GOVERNANCE/POLITICS

SHARIFF SAYDONA, Maguindanao - Gov. Bai Meriam Mangudadatu of Maguindanao, actor Robin Padilla, Army 601^st brigade commander Colonel Jose Narciso and 33^rd Infantry Battalion commander Lt. Colonel Elmer Boongaling on Monday led the medical-dental and relief distribution to families affected by armed conflict in Shariff Saydona Mustapha town.

COTABATO CITY --- Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu filed Monday House Bill 3054 grouping together all 11 towns in the first district of Maguindanao into a chartered “Maguindanao North” province.

If approved by the House of Representatives, the now almost five-decade Maguindanao shall retain as its territory all 25 towns in its second congressional district.

The 30-page draft bill also recommended Sultan Kudarat town as capital of the proposed Maguindanao North province, according to Mangudadatu’s chief of staff, lawyer Kirby Abdullah.

KIDAPAWAN CITY  – To fulfill one of her election promises, North Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco met Friday with officials of Metro Kidapawan Water District (MKWD) to discuss how far flung communities, especially those of Indigenous Peoples” can be reached by water services.

“Everyone should have access to sufficient, potable, and safe water supply,” she said as the meeting between her and MKWD officials began at the provincial capitol conference room.

NORTH COTABATO --- Many participants to the provincial enterprise information roadshow this week did not know that the Land Bank of the Philippines has support packages they can avail of.

North Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco said Friday the event held on Monday at the provincial capitol in Kidapawan City was meant to boost the local economy.

COTABATO CITY --- The Bangsamoro leadership has entrusted to the interior ministry the noticeably efficient emergency response outfit in the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team, or HEART, under the executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that got replaced with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in February shall now be supervised by the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government-BARMM.

COTABATO CITY  – The Police Regional Office Regional Advisory Council (PRO-RAC-12) was adjudged as the best RAC across the country and to be awarded by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“A very good news for all of us,” said Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Giani-Sayadi who chairs RAC 12 in a statement Wednesday.

LAMITAN CITY --- The city police has acknowledged the contribution of Muslim and Christian sectors to its having been cited as outstanding in community relations from among all police units in Basilan.

Lt. Col. Christopher Panapan received Monday from the Basilan provincial police the citation stating that the Lamitan City police topped the list of units in the island province that engaged in police-community relations (PCR) projects the past 12 months.

GEN. SANTOS CITY - In compliance with the directive of President RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE to the PNP and AFP published on Friday, Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 initiated an inspection and closure of all number games outlets in SOCCSAKSARGEN spearheaded by no less than PBGEN ELISEO TAM RASCO, Regional Director.

KIDAPAWAN CITY  –- North Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco today urged the police to double their efforts in protecting the people and serving the country after the provincial police office was chosen as the country’s best police provincial office.

Catamco met Thursday with the officials of (North) Cotabato Police Provincial Office (CCPO), led by provincial director Colonel Maximo Layugan, after she was informed that the provincial police bagged this year’s major award.

ISABELA CITY --- Officials launched Thursday an engineering intervention meant to stop the perennial flooding in the city’s commercial hub during rainy days.

Residents of Isabela City have been ranting for years about the quick inundation of several blocks downtown after every heavy downpour.

It is a nagging problem inherited by newcomers Mayor Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman and her running mate during the May 13 polls, Vice Mayor Kifli Salliman.