BARMM can make Muslim Mindanao ‘land of fulfillment’

COTABATO CITY – Key officials in Muslim Mindanao took turns Tuesday in welcoming the enactment of RA 11054 as a “springboard” for the transformation of their promise-filled community into a “land of fulfillment,” even as they urged higher authorities to ensure full implementation of the organic act for it “to make a difference.”

Provincial and regional officials, alongside members of the House of Representatives from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), aired common belief that Southern Philippines will finally end its decades-old tag as “Land of Promise” once the new edict is “implemented efficaciously in letter and spirit.”

In separate interviews, they hailed President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for exercising his “strong political will” in the passage of the law, saying his immediate predecessors “tried but failed” to do so.

Duterte formally signed RA 11054, or the Act creating the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), in Malacanang, Monday.

“This is a historic law worthy of profuse celebration. It brightens prospects for lasting peace and sustainable growth in the south, especially in the proposed Bangsamoro region,” Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu told The Manila Bulletin.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman expressed similar optimism, saying that while the new law meant the eventual abolition of his turf, it will yield “optimum benefits for the greater majority people” in southern Philippines.

“We supported all processes involved in its (RA 11054) enactment beyond personal interests. In fact, we have been ready for a smooth transition of ARMM to the new autonomous entity as early as last year,” Hataman said.

As of July, he said, ARMM has completed “90 percent” of its inventory of resources and projects for turnover the BARMM government.

Through their respective staffs, Governors Soraya Alonto-Adiong of Lanao del Sur, Jim Saliman of Basilan, Sakur Tan II of Sulu and Rashidin Matba of Tawi-Tawi assured overwhelming ratification of the new law in a plebiscite to be held within 150 days from now.