BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES

COTABATO CITY --- Hundreds of wanted radical Islamists surrendered in 2018, remorseful of abusing a religion that moderate peace-loving Muslims find perfect and incomparable.In Basilan province alone, 187 members of the Abu Sayyaf, feared for its practice of beheading captives if ransom demands are not met, returned to the fold of law this year through the efforts of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Western Mindanao Command and the Regional Police Office-ARMM.More than a hundred Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan surrendered from between 2016 to 2017.No fewer than 30 members of the

BASILAN --- Clerics unanimously endorsed the Bangsamoro Organic Law in a gathering Sunday in a barangay where no fewer than a hundred perished in bloody rebel-military clashes in recent years.The activity in Barangay Guinanta in Al-Barka town in Basilan, a joint initiative of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the present administration of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and local peace advocacy groups, was meant to disseminate the intricacies of the BOL.The BOL shall be subjected to a plebiscite in the autonomous region on January 21, an exercise that would seal its fate.The Commi

COTABATO CITY- With Cardinal Orlando Quevedo and popular Christian politicians endorsing the Bangsamoro Organic Law, how can non-Muslims vote against it during the January 21 plebiscite?Officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said Saturday they are thankful to Quevedo, Mayor Ramon Piang of Upi town in Maguindanao and Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay of Lamitan City for helping the MILF and Malacañang promote a peace initiative that would benefit southern Muslim, Christian and Lumad sectors.The MILF’s revolutionary figurehead, Hadji Murad Ebrahim, said the three of them are sources of enco

COTABATO CITY – The year-long anniversary celebration of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), dubbed Pakaradjaan 2018, concluded on Wednesday night, December 19, at the Office of the Regional Governor Compound. The event featured the awarding of the winners in various Pakaradjaan 2018 competitions and performances from Bayang Barrios, Cooky Chua, and Moro cultural troupes.Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman led the awarding of the trophies and cash prizes to the winners.

COTABATO CITY - Peace activists have called on politicians campaigning for or against the Bangsamoro Organic Law to refrain from discourses that can derail the delicate southern peace process.The issue is now an irritant among rival political quarters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and in towns outside where the January 21 plebiscite for the ratification of the BOL is to be held.Some are attacking adversaries for supporting what is for them a measure that they assert cannot never address the now 50-year southern Moro secessionist problem.There are others who talk about BOL’s be

COTABATO CITY – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman delivered his final 'Ulat sa Bayan' on Wednesday, December 19, at the region’s seat of government here.In his final address, Gov. Hataman highlighted the achievements and milestones of his administration in the last seven years. Pitong taon. Totoo nga poand Napakalayo na ng ating narating sa loob ng maiksing panahon, lalo na kung ihahambing sa ating dating kalagayan, Gov. Hataman said.ARMM will cease to exist after the expected ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) through a plebiscite next month.

COTABATO CITY - All is set for what could be the last state of the region address on Wednesday of the now outgoing governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.The now 29-year ARMM, which has a regional charter, the Republic 9054, could be replaced with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM, if the enabling measure for such transition, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, is ratified via a plebiscite on January 21.The SORA, also known as ulat sa bayan, of ARMM Gov.

COTABATO CITY - The police and military started tightening security Monday in areas where the poll body is to administer on January 21 the plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Organic Law.The exercise, to be administered by the Commission on Elections in all five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and in several towns in Regions 12 and 10 and in Isabela City under Region 9, will seal of the fate of the BOL.The BOL is also known as the Republic Act 11054, the enabling measure for the replacement of ARMM with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM.In separate

MAGUINDANAO --- Two ailing elderly women who wished to see the now outgoing governor of Maguindanao before they die got on Saturday what they longed for.Gov.

COTABATO CITY - It was his neighbors and close relatives who helped put him behind bars.A notorious trafficker - Mhads Luminog Mamintal - circulating no less than P10 million worth of shabu weekly to retailers on the streets fell Thursday in an entrapment laid with the help of relatives.Juvenal Azurin, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Friday it was people close to the now detained Mamintal, among them his relatives by blood, who gave him away.Mamintal, an ethnic Maguindanaon, was arrested in the act of selling P6.8 million worth o