COTABATO CITY — Members of the Bangsamoro parliament have assured support for a proposed regional law that will grant at least P500,000 death and disability benefits for barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials in the autonomous region.

The Barangay Officials Death and Disability Benefit Act of 2025, Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Bill 379, was filed at the 80-seat regional parliament in Cotabato City on Tuesday, member of parliament Naguib G. Sinarimbo

Ranking members of the public information team in the Bangsamoro parliament, among them Jamaleah L. Benito, told reporters on Wednesday that the BTA Bill 379 will soon be subjected to extensive procedural deliberation by regional lawmakers.

Mr. Sinarimbo had proposed in the draft regional law the grant of at least P500,000 to P1 million cash each for any barangay officials who dies, or gets physically incapacitated due to atrocities, or accidents in line of duty, or ailments while serving an elective term.

“We have colleagues in the parliament who assured us to help us work out the passage of this bill into law,” Mr. Sinarimbo said.

Mr. Sinarimbo was local government minister in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao before he was appointed last March as member of the BARMM parliament by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

“We have barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials who are active in maintaining law and order in some troubled areas. This measure is so important. We need to have this as regional law,” Mr. Sinarimbo said.

More than 20 out of 80 members of the BARMM parliament had separately told reporters on Wednesday morning that they will work together in ensuring the passage into law of BTA Bill 379.

The measure compels the BARMM government to allocate the funds for the death and disability packages, which two private entities, the Al-Amanah Islamic Bank and the insurance firm Pru Life UK will help manage as a regional humanitarian program.

Gov. Emmylou T. Mendoza of Cotabato province in Region XII, which has 63 barangays under the Bangsamoro regional government, said she is hoping for the enactment into regional law of the BTA Bill 379.

“That will be good for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials of the 63 barangays in my province that are under the Bangsamoro government, but are inside several towns under my administration,” Ms. Mendoza said.

The provincial government of Cotabato has not stopped its public service thrusts benefitting the residents of the 63 BARMM barangays, now grouped into eight towns created last year by the Bangsamoro parliament, despite being no longer under its jurisdiction. — John Felix M. Unson

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