DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 09 August) – Majority of the 30-member Council of Leaders of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) took their oath before Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo on Wednesday morning at the Soto Grande Hotel here.
After the oath-taking, the members were set to hold their inaugural meeting from 1p.m. to 5 p.m.
Lagdameo first administered the oath of Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, interim Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro region, as head of the Council, followed by members of the Council. The Council has 18 members from government and 12 from communities and sectors.
All six governors of the BARMM – Hadjiman Hataman-Salliman of Basilan, Mamintal Adiong Jr. of Lanao del Sur, Bai Mariam Mangudadatu of Maguindanao del Sur, Abduraof Macacua of Maguindanao del Norte, Abdusakur Tan of Sulu and Yshmael Sali of Tawi-Tawi were present along with Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali Matabalao and Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay. Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra sent a representative.
Only two of eight congressional representatives were able to attend: Bai Dimple Mastura of the lone district of Maguindanao del Norte and Samier Tan of the 1st district of Sulu. The rest are attending committee hearings.
Of the 12 members from the communities and sectors, Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo, the representative of “settler communities” in the Council, could not make it as he had to attend the ASEAN Intercultural and Inter-Religious Dialogue Conference for Harmony and Peace on August 7 and 8 in Jakarta. But Quevedo, as panelist there last Monday, spoke about peacebuilding in the BARMM. The representative of Private Educational Institutions has yet to be named.
The Council of Leaders serves as adviser to the Chief Minister “on matters of governance” in the BARMM.
According to Section 9 of Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM, the Council of Leaders is headed by the Chief Minister and its members are provincial governors, mayors of chartered cities in the region and congressional representatives in the region.
The Council of Leaders is one of seven mechanisms of the Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) composed of leaders from the national government and the regional officials.
The other IGR mechanisms are the Philippine Congress-Bangsamoro Parliament Forum; Intergovernmental Fiscal Policy Board: Joint Body for the Zones of Joint Cooperation; Intergovernmental Infrastructure Development Board; Intergovernmental Energy Board; and Bangsamoro Sustainable Development Board. (MindaNews)
