MOLE officials, employees meet with ranking UN reps

COTABATO CITY - Many projects of the United Nations in the country are concentrated on the Bangsamoro region in support of the southern Mindanao peace process, UN’s representative to the Philippines said Monday.

Officials and employees of the Bangsamoro labor ministry met here Monday with  representatives from two entities of the United Nations, where the issue was tackled during their engagement.

The resident coordinator of the United Nations, Gustavo Gonzales, led the delegation from the UN’s Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) and the UN’s Populations Funds (UNFPA) that met with Labor Minister Romeo Sema of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and his subordinates..

During their meeting, Gonzalez told Sema and other officials of the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) that about 65 percent of the projects of the United Nations in the country are being implemented in the BARMM provinces to complement the southern Mindanao peace process.

Sema told Gonzales and his companions that MOLE-BARMM planners and researchers are now drafting a regional labor code that would protect the security and welfare of the labor sector in the autonomous region.

Sema, besides being regional labor minister, is also a member of the BARMM interim parliament.

Sema said he and his subordinates were glad with the visit to their office Monday of representatives from UN-OCHA and the UNFPA.

“It inspired us to continue working hard for the welfare of the labor sector in the Bangsamoro region,” Sema said.

The BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi, where UN agencies have on-going humanitarian and peace-building projects.