Tag: Tajallih S. Basman

THE SERIES of discussions for drafting the Bangsamoro local government code kicked off Monday in Cotabato City, with the Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) setting its sights on strengthening barangays being the local government unit (LGU) “nearest” to the people.

THE NATIONAL Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government met this week to discuss strategies towards bringing down the poverty rate in the region, which stood at 63% as of the first semester 2018.

BESTING FIVE other candidates, Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu has won as the first woman governor of Maguindanao with 256,338 votes.

SULTAN KUDARAT, MAGUINDANAO — Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim, also chair of the former rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), cast his vote Monday, his first time to participate in national elections.

THE BANGSAMORO Ministry of Public Works (MPW) has launched the Expanded Bangsamoro Advanced Road Mapping and Management (E-BARMM) System to monitor and report on infrastructure projects as part of efforts to improve transparency in the region.

THE FIRST Bangsamoro Ramadan Trade Fair was launched on Wednesday inside the Bangsamoro People’s Complex in Cotabato City.

ANOTHER MEMBER of the Abu Sayyaf Group surrendered to the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) in Sulu last May 1, bringing the total to 28 since intensified military operations after the Jan. 27 bombing of a Catholic church in the island province’s capital.

AN INVESTIGATOR of the Regional Human Rights Commission (RHRC) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Archad Ayao, was shot dead in Cotabato City Tuesday while on board a motorcycle transport service known as habal-habal.

IN PREPARATION for the decommissioning of the 12,000 Moro Islamic Liberations Front (MILF) combatants, or 30% of its armed forces, the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) conducted a series of decommissioning simulation exercises.

THE BANGSAMORO Transition Authority (BTA) has created eight ad hoc committees that will prepare the documents for the administration of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) regional government.

THE ECONOMY of Bicol Region grew the fastest among the 17 Philippine regions in 2018, exceeding the growth rate posted by the capital as well as the national average.

MARAWI CITY-based civil society organization leader Drieza A. Lininding said they welcome President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s recent remarks on the Marawi rehabilitation as it clarifies the government’s stance on the reconstruction of ravaged homes.

THE INDEPENDENT Third-Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) of the Bangsamoro peace process, in its 5^th Public Report released on Tuesday, said the “immediate rehabilitation” of war-torn Marawi City is one of the crucial components in the region’s transition under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

MEMBERS OF the extremist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) attacked a civilian community and a military auxiliary force detachment in Barangay Kauran, Ampatuan, Maguindanao last Sunday evening, the military reported on Tuesday.

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) held its first session Friday and elected the officers of the Parliament under the new regional government.

DEFENSE SECRETARY Delfin N. Lorenzana said Islamic State (IS) members fleeing Syria, particularly Malaysians and Indonesians, could possibly enter the Philippines through backdoor points, but assured that these extremists will find no “haven” in the country.

THE 75-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) will have their inauguration on March 25 in Cotabato City, alongside the first session of the parliament of the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

MARAWI CITY Vice-Mayo Arafat Salic, who was arrested at the city hall on March 13 over rebellion charges, is also facing cases relating to illegal drugs and murder, according to military officials.

THE MINISTRY of Health (MoH) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) reported 361 confirmed measles cases from Jan. to March 10 this year, a significant drop from 1,260 cases in the same period last year.

FLAGS were flown half-mast at the Bangsamoro People’s Compound in Cotabato City in honor of Ghazali Jaafar, one of the most prominent leaders of the Moro armed struggle and later negotiator for peace.

AN ISLAMIC ruling, or a fatwah, on immunization was signed by 13 Muslim religious leaders of the Regional Darul Ifta (RDI) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on March 12 to clarify that it is consistent with the faith.

MARAWI CITY-based civil society organization leader Drieza A. Lininding has called on the national government to let the newly-established Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) take over the rehabilitation program in Marawi City.

THREE GRENADE explosions hit different areas in Lanao del Norte on the eve of the second round of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite on Wednesday, but the voting day itself went generally smoothly, according to election and security officials.

TWO PROVINCES in two regions in Mindanao stand to lose parts of their areas as towns and villages cast their votes on Wednesday on whether or not to be part of the new Bangsamoro region.

THE PHILIPPINE military destroyed on Saturday a main camp of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a local extremist group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), after members who have earlier surrendered provided crucial information.

ANOTHER BLAST rocked southern Philippines in the early morning of Jan. 30, this time at a mosque in Zamboanga City in mainland Mindanao, killing two people and wounding at least four others.

THE RATIFICATION of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in the core of what would be a new autonomous region in Mindanao is a key step in the peace process as it paves the way for equally major, if not bigger, tasks needed to achieve inclusive, sustained economic development.

AT LEAST 18, including soldiers, were killed and about 80 were wounded on Sunday morning, after two bombs exploded at Jolo Cathedral in the predominantly Muslim island and capital of Jolo, about a week after the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

THREE SOLDIERS were wounded in a clash with about 24 remnants of the local terror group Maute in Barangay Sumalindao, Sultan Dumalondong, Lanao del Sur on Thursday morning.

COTABATO CITY-Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said on Wednesday said she will file an election protest over the local result of the Bangsamaro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite in her city.

THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) en banc convened on Tuesday morning as the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers (NPBOC) to start the official count for the votes in the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite, but adjourned by 11:30 a.m. as it

MONDAY’S plebiscite to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) has been mostly peaceful despite some untoward incidents, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said in an update on Monday.

TODAY’S PLEBISCITE for a new law that will expand the geographic coverage and economic authority of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) comes at a period when significant growth has been recorded in this part of the country that has otherwise been afflicted by poverty and armed conflict.

FREE TRANSPORT service during the Jan. 21 Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite has been announced by the local government for Marawi residents living outside the city.

THE MILITARY and police have recently foiled bomb threats and seized firearms from terror groups as security operations are beefed up for the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite on Jan. 21 and Feb. 6.

ANOTHER Indonesian held by Abu Sayyaf militants was rescued in Sulu on Jan. 15. the Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) reported yesterday.

COTABATO CITY — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim expressed confidence in the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) given the vigorous campaign that various sectors have been conducting in the past weeks.

WITH AN expected 2.8 million voters for the coming Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite, the Department of Health (DoH) and Commission on Elections (Comelec) offices in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have laid out plans to ensure immediate response to critical situations.

THE Police Regional Office (PRO) in SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos City) has activated special investigation task group (SITG) South Seas to track down the perpetrators of the Dec. 31 bombing at a shopping mall in Cotabato City.