Maguindanao ‘White House’ awaiting PRRD inauguration

COTABATO CITY
– The newly completed Maguindanao provincial capitol building, dubbed as the
White House of the South, is awaiting formal inauguration by President
Rodrigo Roa Duterte, local officials and stakeholders said on Sunday.

The new
capitol building is an essential part of trailblazing operations and reforms in
our provincial governance. Its inauguration by national dignitaries like the
President is fitting, Engr. Abdulrahman Asim, provincial administrator, said.

The building,
designed by local architects with a façade resembling that of the White House
in Washington D.C., forms part of a provincial capitol complex programmed with
P500-million allocation on a 12-hectare land along the highway of Buluan, the
new capital town of Maguindanao.

Its
construction began in December 2016 and was completed last August, according to
heads of provincial executive departments including the office of the governor,
who have started transferring to the new edifice two weeks ago.

Upon election
in 2010, Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu built the Rajah Buayan Peace
Center edifice to house many of the executive departments including his office,
Asim said.

With the
completion of the White House, the huge office of the provincial treasury
department at the Rajah Buayan peace center building will be relegated to the
provincial elections office, which currently rents a building in this city.

In its meeting
last week, the Provincial Peace and order Council (PPOC), chaired by
Mangudadatu, approved the use of the treasury department’s space by Provincial
Election Supervisor Udtog Tago and his staff.

PPOC officials
said Mangudadatu had already sent an official invitation to President Duterte,
asking him to inaugurate the modern capitol building.

Engr. Don
Mustapha Loong, public works secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) visited last week some infrastructure projects in Maguindanao,
including the new capitol building.