BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – The local government of Sultan Kudarat and Sultan Mastura in Maguindananao turned over 45 and 31 loose firearms, respectively, at the Municipal Hall of Sultan Kudarat on April 17, the Army said.Sultan Kudarat Mayor Datu Shameem B. Mastura and Sultan Mastura Mayor Datu Rauf T. Mastura turned over the firearms collected from the residents of their towns to 37thInfantry Battalion under 603rdInfantry Brigade in a ceremony organized by Nuling Inter-Agency Task Force.Brig. Gen. Jess B.

COTABATO CITY --– Officials are targeting the completion in the next two years of 5,000 more core shelters for impoverished Muslim communities in five southern provinces.The housing project is part of the Apat na Dapat goal of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Bangsamoro Regional Inclusive Development for Growth and Empowerment, or ARMM-BRIDGE program.More than a hundred houses had been built under ARMM-BRIDGE program in recent months, according to records obtained from state auditors assigned to offices in ARMM.The core houses, some already awarded to now reforming members of the

COTABATO CITY --- Medical workers here urged leaders in Sulu Friday to protect their co-workers in the troubled province following Thursday’s brutal murder of a senior staff of the provincial health office.Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Friday Edmiraldo Suliano Wee, 38, died on the spot when gunmen attacked him Thursday night while on a motorcycle in Barangay San Raymundo in Jolo town.Jolo is the provincial capital of the island province of Sulu, which has 18 towns.The victim was the human resource management off

COTABATO CITY – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has started repairing and rehabilitating a total of 612 classrooms both in public elementary and secondary schools across the regionbefore classes begin in June.ARMM's Education Department (DepEd-ARMM) Assistant Secretary Alfhadar Pajiji noted that P130 million will be used to repair and rehabilitate school buildings.

COTABATO CITY --- Officials urged southerners Thursday to intensify support for the approval of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, for them a sure solution to misguided Islamic militancy now plaguing Mindanao.The appeals were aired separately by Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu following the surrender on Wednesday to Major Gen.

Maguindanao --- Four bomb-makers in the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters surrendered to authorities Wednesday, the first ever since the terror group emerged in 2010.The BIFF, which splintered from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front eight years ago, has been using the Islamic State flag as its revolutionary banner since 2014.The four BIFF members agreed to return to the fold of law through the joint intercession of Major Gen. Arnel Dela Vega of the Army’s 6thInfantry Division and Lt. Col.

MAGUINDANAO --- Authorities are preparing for a rampage by the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters following the takeover by soldiers of its two enclaves in the province early Tuesday.Soldiers are now in control of the BIFF camps, located at the border of Salibo and Saidona towns in the second district of Maguindanao.Six militants, initially identified only as Awar, Mantato, Sukarno, Badrudin, Izhak and Guiapar, were killed in firefights before the camps were cleared from BIFF occupation by personnel of the Army’s 2ndMechanize Battalion, a component-unit of the 6thInfantry Division

LANAO DEL SUR - Seven Maranao elected officials engaged in peace-building activities in Lanao del Sur province are now in the United States for an 11-day conflict-management study tour.Regional Vice Governor Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Lanao del Sur Vice Gov.

BEYOND the readers’ singsong melody, Qur’an reading is an art, a bridging education and a form of cultural diplomacy to Southeast Asian countries that formed the region’s International Qur’an Reciters’ Assembly (IQRA) in 1961.The competition was aired live crystal clear over DXMS-AM in Cotabato City, DXGD-AM in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi and DXMM-AM in Jolo through the broadcast facilities of Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation (NDBC) from Bahay ng Alumni in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.Two readers from Maguindanao are slated to represent the Philippines to the 2018 IQRA

COTABATO CITY --- Hundreds of internally displaced people were allowed by authorities to visit briefly their abandoned houses in Marawi City on Sunday.The activity, dubbed Kambisita, which means visit in the Maranaw dialect, was meant to give evacuees from Marawi City at least nine hours to inspect their houses and salvage belongings left inside.The initial April 1 to 2 Kambisita was closely monitored by the police and the military.Maranao IDPs were allowed to enter conflict-torn areas in Marawi City via designated entry and exit routes.Different groups of IDPs shall also be allowed to vi