Marcos wants unity of members of new BARMM parliament
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 14:00 PM Thu Sep 15, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY - President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Thursday called on members of the Bangsamoro parliament to work together for the attainment of peace and progress in the Moro-led autonomous region.
President Marcos was guest of honor in Thursday’s launching at the regional capitol here of the 2022-2025 Bangsamoro parliament, whose 80 members he appointed last August, after the tenure of those who had served in 2019 to 2022 under President Rodrigo Duterte had ended.
The Bangsamoro parliament is also known as the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, whose 80 members, among them Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, are together overseeing the operation of the regional autonomous government.
Ebrahim is chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front, was also present at the event.
There are members of the MNLF in the parliament, whose majority bloc is comprised of 41 representatives from the MILF.
“I urge you to pass laws on taxation, facilitate the conduct of the 2025 election and focus on health care and communication,” he said in a brief message to BTA members gathered at the 300-seat Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex inside the 32-hectare capitol here of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
He also called on BTA members to sustain unity in their ranks in forging ahead with the peace and security programs of the BARMM administration.
President Marcos got to the BARMM capitol in southeast of Cotabato City via the Awang Airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, near the headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, about eight kilometers away.
He and his companions, among them Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, returned to the Awang Airport immediately after his brief speech during his engagement with regional parliament members.