BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES

COTABATO CITY - A big group of local terrorists, nine of them experts in fabrication of home-made bombs, surrendered to the police Tuesday.

The 22 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters turned in assorted firearms and components for improvised explosive devices during a surrender rite Tuesday at the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Camp SK Pendatun in nearby Parang town in Maguindanao del Norte.

COTABATO CITY—Bangsamoro Government modified the working schedule of officials and employees in BARMM during the observance of the holy month of Ramadhan starting Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Through the Memorandum Circular issued by the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) on Tuesday, March 21, flexible working hours from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM  for the duration of Ramadhan shall be allowed for fasting employees during the period of  Ramadhan. 

This is in accordance with Presidential Decree (PD) No. 322 and Civil Service Commission Resolution No. 81-1277 dated 13 November 1981. 

COTABATO CITY – A measure that seeks to divide the Bangsamoro Region's Special Geographic Area into two parliamentary districts has been filed by Bangsamoro lawmakers on the last day of session before its mandatory adjournment.

Member of the Parliament Mohammad Kelie Antao, the principal author of Parliament Bill No. 122, has proposed splitting the SGA into two districts, with separate representatives for each.

The SGA is composed of the 63 barangays in North Cotabato that voted yes in the 2019 plebiscite to become part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

COTABATO CITY  – A Bangsamoro lawmaker has filed a bill in the regional legislative body for the establishment an office recognizing the rights and privileges of senior citizens across the Bangsamoro region.

On Monday (March 20), Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Kadil Sinolinding Jr had filed Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Bill No. 121, also known as the Bangsamoro Commission for Senior Citizen Act of 2022.

COTABATO CITY  – A Muslim religious leader today announced that the Holy Month of Ramadhan will official commence on Thursday, May 23, Thursday.

“The result of the moonsighting was that the crescent moon has not been sighted,” Abdulrauf Guialani, Bangsamoro Jurist (Deputy Mufti) and officer in charge of the Bangsamoro Darul Ifta (House of Opinion), said Tuesday night.

On Monday, the Bangsamoro Darul Ifta, headed by Bangsamoro Mufti Abuhuraira A. Udasan, assigned groups to perform moonsighting this evening, Tuesday, March 21.

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Lantawan Mayor Nursiya Ismael handed over 34 loose firearms to the military in a ceremonial turn-over held at the 19th Special Forces Company Headquarters in Barangay Tabuk, Isabela City, Basilan, on Monday, March 20, 2023.

MANILA—More than five decades have passed, but the story of a significant event that is considered the major flashpoint that ignited the Moro insurgency in the Philippines—the Jabidah Massacre—is never forgotten.

During its 55th year on Saturday, March 18, 2023, the Bangsamoro Government, led by the Ministry of Public Order and Safety (MPOS), honored the Tausug and Sama men who were unceremoniously killed at the Corregidor Island in Cavite in 1968.

MARAWI CITY --- Security problems have alarmingly stymied a multi-billion foreign-funded agricultural project in Lanao del Sur that could potentially employ thousands of workers.

Maranao communities want immediate government intervention on the issue.

Last year’s supposed start of the large-scale soybean and corn propagation by a joint Filipino-American outfit in arable lands of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) in Amai Manabilang, Lanao Del Sur failed to proceed as programmed due to threats from armed men.

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and election watchdogs supported the enactment of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC).

"We are so satisfied with the approved and promulgated Code as almost all our comments and suggestions were incorporated therein," Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in an interview Tuesday.

Garcia said they approved the BEC, which was passed by the Bangsamoro Parliament last week.

DAVAO CITY — Bangsamoro Government along with 12 local government units signed a memorandum of agreements on Feb. 7 for the implementation and institutionalization of Localizing E-Governance for Accelerated Provision of Services or LeAPS Program.