The public works department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is ready to turn over to the incoming Bangsamoro government some P2 billion worth of infrastructure projects implemented from January 2012 to September 2014, officials said. Hadji Emil Sadain, secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the autonomous region, confidently said on Tuesday they can still accomplish more infrastructure projects in the coming months, before the transition from ARMM to the Bangsamoro entity can start. The enabling measure for the ARMM’s replacement with a more politically and administratively empowered Bangsamoro entity, the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), is now in Congress, awaiting enactment. The creation of the Bangsamoro entity is part of the final peace compact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro. Employees of the DPWH-ARMM celebrated in Cotabato City last Monday the 24th devolution anniversary of the agency, based on a special order by then President Corazon Aquino, issued after the creation of the autonomous region via a plebiscite in 1990. The rank-and-file personnel of the DPWH-ARMM are aware Monday’s festivity could be their last, owing to the the possible enactment next year of the draft BBL, which will, as a legislative consequence, establish the MILF-led Bangsamoro outfit.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:55:30 +0000