BRIEFER ON THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT FERDINAND MARCOS JR. TO THE BANGSAMORO GOVERNMENT CENTER IN COTABATO CITY
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will attend as guest of honor of the INAUGURATION OF THE BANGSAMORO TRANSITION AUTHORITY (BTA) PARLIAMENT 2022-2025 at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center inside the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City, Thursday, September 15.
THE BTA
The BTA is the interim government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), pending the election of the region's government officials, originally set in 2022.
In itself a parliament, it has both executive and legislative powers over the autonomous region.
On October 28, 2021, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Republic Act 11593 extending the transition period of the BARMM from 2022 to 2025, thereby postponing the first regular parliamentary elections, which will be synchronized with the 2025 national elections. Section 2 of RA 11593, states that the current President will appoint another set of 80 BTA members.
This paved the way for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to appoint the new BTA members. The newly and re-appointed BTA members -- 41 from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and 39 from the national government -- took their oath before the President on August 12.
UNITED BTA
Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, Carlito Galvez described the appointment of the new BTA as symbolic of unity among the Moro fronts, as he noted that the body is now comprised of representatives from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Misuari and Sema Groups as well as the sons of top Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders.
“This is a united BTA because most of the new members came from the younger generations of Moro leaders which include the sons and daughters of both MNLF and MILF leaders [Nur] Misuari, [Muslim] Sema, [Yusoph] Jikiri, [Datu Udtog ‘Datu Jun’ Jr.] Matalam, [Gadzali Jaafar, Mimbantas] and Hashim Salamat, among others,” Galvez said.
Galvez noted further that the appointment the new BTA is not just historic but also symbolic because, "the peace process started during the term of Former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and hopefully, it will succeed in the next six years of the term of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.”
THE PRESIDENT'S CALL FOR THE BTA
President Marcos reminded the BTA members during the oath-taking ceremony to fast track the the implementation of their deliverables, Bangsamoro Local Government Code, Electoral Code, Revenue Code and Indigenous Peoples’ Code.
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