6,000 ARMM EMPLOYEES DEMAND JOB SECURITY

COTABATO CITY— Roughly 6,000 employees of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are asking to be absorbed into the incoming government under the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

In a statement released to local media on Monday, the employees, who belonged to the infrastructure, economic and government sectors of the ARMM, said they, too, could contribute in the new Bangsamoro government and should not be left out in the BBL.

Equal protection

They demanded equal protection and security of tenure under Section 1, Article III—the Bill of Rights—of the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act No. 6656, or the security of tenure law.

Under the reconciled version of the BBL, only ARMMemployees in the education, health, and social welfare sectors would be retained once the ARMM is abolished to give way to the new autonomous Bangsamoro region.

Experienced and trained

The statement said the affected workers were experienced and trained to uphold the standards and systems in the ARMM regional government, which had been reformed in recent years to be an efficient and effective structure.

“The nonabsorption of the ARMM employees will hamper the smooth transition of the [ regional government] to the new Bangsamoro government, along with the socioeconomic development of the Bangsamoro in the long term,” it said.

Part of the region

The affected personnel are as much a part of the Bangsamoro region as those working in the basic social services sector who would be retained in the new government, it added.

Once passed, the BBL effectively abolishes the ARMM, threatening the jobs of thousands of ARMMemployees.