THE DEVELOPMENT Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) on Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement with the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) to assist in the establishment of offices in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The Ad Hoc Committee on Creation of Offices in the Bangsamoro government was created by parliament along with other ‘priority’ committees.

In a previous interview with BusinessWorld, committee chair Baintan A. Ampatuan said, “Based from our plenary discussion, the priority is the six offices mentioned in the Article XVI [of the RA 11054] such as the offices for youth, women, settler communities, DRRM, planning and development, and attorney general.”

She said the committee will also prioritize the creation of two ministries without a counterpart office from the now defunct ARMM: Ministry of Human Settlements and Development, and Ministry of Public Order and Safety.

Meanwhile, OPAPP Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. noted that DAP has previously worked with the ARMM government, and the partnership was instrumental in improving the region’s economy as well as in gaining more seals of good local governance.

“This means that DAP and the Bangsamoro has created a good partnership,” Mr. Galvez said.

DAP President and Chief Executive Officer Engelbert Caronan, Jr., for his part, said, “We are not the one who will make the proposal, we will only facilitate the process. It is your intentions, it is your aspirations that has to appear, that has to be seen in the work that we are going to be facilitating.” — Tajallih S. Basman

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