"Parang is future of BARMM," says Minister Sinarimbo

PARANG, Maguindanao – The Bangsamoro government is determined to make this town as the center of economic development of the region, a senior official of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) said.

“Parang is the future of BARMM,” lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG), said in his speech during the 76^th founding anniversary of Parang over the weekend.

The regional legislative body has enacted a law creating Parang as the regional capital where government center will rise in the coming months.

“This will usher in a new era for Parang, it will trigger major construction works that will in turn drive economic growth, employment opportunity and a bigger economic era for Parang,” Sinarimbo said.

Sinarimbo cited some basis why he said the town to be the region’s future.

“First, the geographic location of Parang would play a pivotal role in the development of the whole of BARMM,” he said. “Geography has been one of the most determining factors for growth and development of any society,” he added.

Sinarimbo said Parang lies at the center, technically, of the whole of Mindanao.  With roads now being built across Mindanao connecting major cities you will find yourself at the center of Mindanao.

“I you measure the distance from your municipality going to Cagayan de Oro you will find that it is almost equal distance to that Parang moving toward Gen. Santos City and if you measure distance from Parang to Zamboanga City, you will find almost equidistant to the major city of Davao,” he explained.

He said in terms of logistics and movements of people, goods and ideas, you therefore sit at the center and play a pivotal role in the whole development of the region.

Parang sits at the center of Maguindanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, both major components of BARMM.

BARMM will invest more on power generation to address energy issues that have been hounding the region since.

Sinarimbo also said BARMM must seize the opportunity to be part of the economic growth that would be unleashed by arising power in West Philippine Sea.

“Parang is truly blessed with the convergence of geography, the timing for it, a leadership that is committed to development and a leadership that has a vision for its people,” he said.

“Because of these, we at the regional government is committed to supporting your local government unit so that you can reach your full potential and propel this region towards greater development in the years to come,” he added.

Parang has been described as a "dynamic coastal municipality" in Maguindanao del Norte with a land area of 850.78 kilometers, making up at least 8.53 percent of Maguindanao's total area.