Creation of 2 parliamentary districts in 8 BARMM towns mulled

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Residents of 63 predominantly-Moro barangays in Cotabato province, now grouped as the Special Geographic Area, are in favor of the proposed creation of two parliamentary districts in their communities for them to have representatives in their regional parliament.

The 63 SGA barangays are now under eight towns created just last year by the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament via separate enabling measures, but do not have parliamentary districts yet that shall have representatives in the region’s lawmaking body in the regional capitol in Cotabato City.

The eight fledgling Bangsamoro towns, Malidegao, Ligawasan, Old Kaabakan, Kapalawan, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Pahamuddin, and Tugunan now have elected officials, managing local government units that are under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, but are inside Cotabato province, which is under Administrative Region 12.

During a multi-sector dialogue on Friday, June 20, in Midsayap, Cotabato with regional lawmakers, led by the lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, local executives and community leaders from across the eight towns expressed favor for Parliament Bill 351, meant to legitimize the setting up of two parliamentary districts in their domains.

Besides Sinarimbo, the chairperson the BARMM parliament’s local government committee, six other regional lawmakers, Zulfikar-Ali Bayam, Hashemi Dilangalen, Mohammad Kelie Antao, Butch Malang, Abdulbasit Benito and Jaafar Matalam, also participated in the multi-sector dialogue about the Parliament Bill 351.

The measure aims to group into one parliamentary district the SGA’s Malidegao, Ligawasan, Old Kaabacan and Kapalawan towns. The Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Pahamuddin, and Tugunan towns shall comprise another parliamentary district under Bill 351.

Sinarimbo, who had served as BARMM local government minister prior to his appointment as member of the regional parliament by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. last March, said on Saturday, June 21, that the dialogue gave leaders in the SGA towns a chance to talk about their perceived positive ramifications of Bill 351 once enacted into law.

“It will show that the Special Geographic Area is not just a simple geographic grouping of Moro communities in Cotabato province, but is a real integral part of the Bangsamoro region, with representatives to the parliament,” a participant to the dialogue, Masulot Mentok, a municipal councilor in Nabalawag, told reporters on Saturday.

BARMM’s regional health minister, the physician-ophthalmologist Kadil Sinolinding Jr., a registered voter in one of the 63 SGA barangays, said he and his relatives in Malidegao, Ligawasan, Old Kaabacan and Kapalawan are also wishing for the enactment into law of the Bill 351.

“That is a pro-peace and pro-development measure. We want that enacted into law,” Sinolinding said.