Tag: #Bangsamoro

BTA to distribute 16K bags of rice to crisis-stricken residents

COTABATO CITY – The 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the lawmaking body of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), is set to distribute 16,000 bags of rice to needy constituents affected by the economic slowdown due to 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

BARMM chief minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim said the regional government has already placed the purchase order for the 16,000 bags of rice that will be equally divided to each member of the Bangsamoro parliament.

“These will be distributed to affected residents of BARMM, especially those who reside in the far-flung areas and provinces each of the (BTA members) represent,” Ebrahim said late Saturday.

He added that as soon as the rice supply arrives, each of the 80 members of the BTA Parliament will be allocated with 200 bags of the commodity.

“The rice subsidy would be a big help to reach out to the poor constituents of our region who are victims of the present crisis,” BTA secretary-general Raby Angkal said.

Meanwhile, seven members of the BTA minority bloc also moved to donate their two-month salary for residents affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

Lawyer Laisa Alamia, BTA minority floor leader, said the initiative targets to continue the relief efforts which they have started last month.

“This crisis has severely affected people’s livelihoods in the Bangsamoro Region, and many of those affected would go hungry without help,” Alamia said.

Recently, more than 2,000 families have benefited from relief operations conducted by the group.

The recipients include residents of selected poor barangays, as well as the patients and staff of the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in Cotabato City, the Cotabato Sanitarium Hospital in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Muslim communities, and Madaris teachers in Zamboanga City.

Alamia said residents of the port area of Sitangkai town in the province of Tawi-Tawi, and villagers in the town of Akbar in Basilan province also received relief packs.

“Cash assistance was also distributed to dozens of Bangsamoro daily wage-earners who lost their livelihood due to the pandemic, as well as BARMM residents stranded in different places in the country”, Alamia said.

The minority bloc has also begun procuring some 700 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE), decontamination tents, and thousands of masks intended for front-line medical workers across the region.

Together with Alamia at the minority bloc are engineers Don Loong, and Baintan Ampatuan; lawyers Rasol Mitmug Jr., and Teng Ambolodto; former local government executive Rasul Ismael; and youth leader and former journalist Amir Mawallil. Currently, the BTA is in recess and will resume its regular session in June. (PNA)

*Originally published on Philippine News Agency (https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1101012)

Returning the favor, Bangsamoro parliament backs autonomy for Cordillera

COTABATO CITY— The people who understand best the struggle for self-governance are those who went through it themselves.

In this spirit, the interim Bangsamoro parliament passed a resolution expressing full support for the passage of measures now pending before Congress seeking to establish, yet again, an autonomous region in the Cordillera (ARC).

The current cause for Cordillera autonomy is contained in House Bill No. 5687 filed by All seven Cordillera representatives and Senate Bill No. 1232 filed by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.

The 1987 Constitution provides for the creation of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras.

In the resolution,  Bangsamoro parliament members said they believe that “the Cordillera’s pursuit of autonomy also deserves the same amount of attention and support as that of the Bangsamoro.”

The resolution was introduced by parliaments members Baintan Adil-Ampatuan, Jose Lorena, Laisa Alamia, Rasol Mitmug Jr., Suharto Ambolodto, Don Mustapha Loong, Amir Mawallil, Rasul Ismael, and Lanang Ali Jr.

During the plenary deliberation on the measure, Mohagher Iqbal, who is also the Bangsamoro’s education minister, expressed the  desire to co-author the resolution.

Iqbal used to head the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s panel in the long and arduous negotiations with the government to gain greater self-governance powers.

When the Bangsamoro Organic Law was still pending in Congress, the Regional Development Council of the Cordillera Administrative Region issued a resolution expressing support for the passage of the Moro autonomy law.

“It is now our turn to support the bid of the people of the Cordilleras for their autonomous region,” Ampatuan said.

The Cordilleras included the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao and Kalinga, and the City of Baguio.

Two plebiscites were held in the past but votes against full Cordillera autonomy overwhelmed votes in favor of it.

In the first, on January 30, 1990, Ifugao was the lone province to vote for self-rule. In the second, on March 7, 1998, only Apayao province chose autonomy.

Lawyer assumes post as new BTA member

COTABATO CITY –– An experienced executive of the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has assumed the post as member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government of the Bangsamoro region.

President Duterte appointed Maranao lawyer Rasol Mitmug Jr., last Sept. 6. Mitmug took his oath before the President on Sept. 17.

Late last week, Mitmug entered his appearance before the BTA as its newest member, bringing to only two seats the vacancy in the 80-member interim body that will hold office until mid-2022, when the duly elected members assume office.

Before his appointment as BTA member, Mitmug, a native of Lumba Bayabao, Lanao del Sur, held many posts in the ARMM.

He served as ARMM’s last secretary of education before it was deemed dissolved with the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law last January.

Mitmug was also speaker of the 7th Regional Legislative Assembly; deputy executive secretary of the regional governor; chief of staff to former ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman; acting secretary of the region’s social welfare and development department; and officer-in-charge of the regional Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Before his ARMM stint, Mitmug was a consultant for ARMM in the office of Senator Teofisto Guingona III.

He was deputy executive director of the nongovernment Mindanao Human Rights Action Center before joining the government.

Mitmug thanked Duterte for the opportunity to serve the Bangsamoro region.

The BTA meets every Wednesday to Friday of the third and fourth weeks of the month.

*Originally published on Philippine Daily Inquirer (https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1168228/lawyer-assumes-post-as-new-bta-member)

Pangulong Duterte nagtalaga ng bagong opisyal sa PNOC at BTA

Nagtalaga si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ng bagong board member ng Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).

Si Michael Ted Macapagal ay hinirang ng pangulo para maging bagong miyembro ng PNOC board of directors.

Si Macapagal ay dating board member ng Clark Development Corporation bago ang appointment sa kaniya sa PNOC.

Samantala, itinalaga din ng pangulo si Atty. Rasol Mitmug Jr. sa Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

Si Mitmug ay dati namang opisyal ng Department of Education sa noo’y Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Duterte names ex-ARMM official, youth activist as Bangsamoro gov’t members

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed two more members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), bringing its composition to 78 members out of the 80 required by the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

Rasol Mitmug Jr, former chief of staff of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Mujiv Hataman, was appointed on September 6, according to appointment papers obtained by Rappler. 

This was confirmed by the Malacañang Records Office on Friday, September 13.

Mitmug had also been Department of Education–ARMM secretary.

Diamila “Jam” Disimban Ramos was also appointed BTA member. Ramos is a Maranao youth activist. Her appointment papers were signed on August 13, according to the Malacañang Records Office.

With her appointment, the female BTA members now number 13 out of 78.

Ramos and Mitmug are appointees of the national government. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the former rebel group that championed the BOL, had already named all their appointees but has to appoint one more to replace lawyer Abdul Dataya who passed away in July.

Malacañang is yet to release the appointment paper of Dataya’s replacement. – Rappler.com

*Originally published on Rappler (https://www.rappler.com/nation/former-armm-official-youth-activist-named-bangsamoro-government-members)