KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 21 June)—The Bangsamoro Parliament has approved the relocation of the seat of power of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) from Cotabato City to nearby Parang, Maguindanao del Norte.
This development defeated the first bill filed under the new Bangsamoro Transition Authority, referred to as BTA2, which sought to declare Cotabato City as the “permanent seat” of the Bangsamoro region.
BTA Bill No. 43, or the Seat of Government Act of 2023, was approved on Monday, with 47 yes votes, zero negative vote and six abstentions.
Parang, a municipality situated in Maguindanao del Norte, is located 31 kilometers from Cotabato City and 36.7 kilometers from the Awang Airport. The town hosts the Polloc Freeport and Economic Zone and the regional office of the Philippine National Police.
The new government center will house the offices of the Wali and the Chief Minister, the Bangsamoro Parliament, as well as BARMM ministries, offices and agencies.
Cotabato City has been the regional seat of three autonomous regions—Regional Autonomous Government (RAG) 12 from 1979, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) from 1990, and the BARMM from 2019—the compound housing the buildings now referred to as Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC).
The BGC hosts the governance structure of the Bangsamoro Government with a bureaucracy of 32 ministries, agencies and offices, and its 80-member BTA Parliament.
In September 2022, Member of Parliament (MP) Baintan Adil-Ampatuan—and co-authored by MPs Amir S. Mawallil, Rasol Mitmug Jr., Laisa M. Alamia, Suharto Ambolodto, Don Mustapha A. Loong and Rasul E. Ismael—pushed a bill to declare Cotabato City as the permanent seat of the BARMM.
This was the first bill filed after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. constituted the BTA2, the interim body tasked to govern the Bangsamoro region.
The authors described the buildings in the BGC as “significant, historic and symbolic of the Bangsamoro struggle,” referring to the Office of the Chief Minister, the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex with the Bangsamoro Museum and Regional Library, and Bangsamoro Parliament building, among others.
Under Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM, also called the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the Parliament shall fix by law the permanent seat of the Bangsamoro government anywhere within the territorial jurisdiction of the region, taking into consideration accessibility and the efficiency with which its mandate may be carried out under the BOL.
For the latest development, Floor Leader Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba expressed confidence that all constituencies within the Bangsamoro region will benefit from the enactment of the bill, saying it offers new opportunities.
“The relocation of the seat of government is expected to promote better accessibility, foster regional development, and strengthen the BARMM’s capacity to serve its constituents effectively,” she said in a report from the BTA’s media bureau.
The Committee on the Establishment of the Seat of Government of the BARMM will be responsible for identifying the specific site and area for the Bangsamoro Government Center.
The physical transfer of the seat of government from Cotabato City to Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, will occur gradually once the necessary infrastructure, such as office buildings, roads, utilities, and communication systems, is completed, the report said.
Parang Mayor Cahar Ibay said earlier that the municipality is “best for establishing the development and implementation of the master plan for the new seat of capital of the Bangsamoro government.”
“We firmly believe that our locality is appropriately and capably suited as an advantageous setting for the establishment of BGC, which will offer quality services that can be easily accessed by constituents across the Bangsamoro region,” Ibay said.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, Parang municipality has 102,000 population, 17,000 households and 25 barangays.
Strategically placed in Maguindanao’s northwest, Parang is bordered by Matanog to the north, Barira and Buldon to the west, and Sultan Mastura to the south, all within Maguindanao del Norte. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
