It’s official: 63 Cotabato villages joining new Bangsamoro region

SIXTY-THREE barangays in Cotabato province have been officially proclaimed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers’(NPBOC) made the proclamation on Thursday. The Feb. 6 plebiscite covered 67 barangays from seven municipalities in Cotabato, also referred to by its old official name North Cotabato, and six municipalities in Lanao Del Norte. All six Lanao Del Norte municipalities — Baloi, Munai, Nunununga, Panta, Tagoloan, and Tangkal — will not be part of the BARMM after failing to get the required double majority vote from both the municipality and the province. “While the votes of the above mentioned municipalities is in favor for their inclusion in the BARMM, the majority votes cast in Lanao Del Norte, however, is not in favor of their inclusion in the BARMM,” said NPBOC Chair and Comelec Commissioner Al A. Parreño. The four Cotabato villages that also failed to get approval were: Lower Mingadin and Pangangan in Aleosan; Galidan, Tulunan; and Balatican, Pikit. — Gillian M. Cortez