COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Up to 22 applicants for high positions in the Bangsamoro government, now under a regular parliament, had been screened by a committee created early this week, a process that is entirely new to residents of the autonomous region.
Former officials of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, created in 1991 and replaced in 2019 with a more empowered Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, were appointed to key positions in the ARMM government based only on the discretion of its regional governor, the appointing authority.
The chief minister of BARMM, Abdulraof Macacua, created early this week a committee, composed of duly-elected members of the 80-seat regional parliament, among them the lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, and Local Government Minister Jordan Bayam, now screening applicants for minister of different ministries and directors of support offices in the region.
Bayam and Sinarimbo, who served as local government minister of BARMM, from 2019 to 2024, prior to his election as a parliament member during the region's September 14 elections, separately told reporters on Wednesday, November 4, that Macacua had instructed them to select only qualified aspirants for heads of ministries and agencies of the Bangsamoro government.
Bayam, the presiding chairperson of the selection committee, clarified to reporters on Wednesday that it is Macacua who has the final decision on whether to appoint, or not, any applicant deemed qualified for the post being applied for.
“The final decision shall come from him,” Bayam said.
Sinarimbo, a deputy floor leader in the 80-member Bangsamoro parliament, said Macacua wants all ministries and agencies in BARMM managed only by qualified people, who are aware of the importance of good governance in fostering lasting peace and sustainable development in all of the autonomous region’s five provinces and three cities.
The pioneer interim chief minister of BARMM, Ahod Ebrahim, who had served, as a presidential appointee, from 2019 until 2025, has not subjected to any extensive screening all of the ministers and heads of agencies he appointed then as an interim figurehead of the regional government.