[New post] Bangsamoro Gov’t Has Php25-Mln Municipal Hall Building on Turtle Islands Far Away
edd1994 posted: " Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-rBE By EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News COTABATO CITY (SDN) -- The Turtle Islands, a municipality belonging to Tawi-Tawi province in the Bangsamor" SDN -- Science & Digital News
By EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
COTABATO CITY (SDN)-- The Turtle Islands, a municipality belonging to Tawi-Tawi province in the Bangsamoro region, is receiving love and attention from the government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Making that sure is the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) headed by Atty. Naguib G. Sinarimbo as Interior minister. BARMM is a regional autonomy with a parliamentary form of governance under the Philippine Republic.
In fact, the MILG is presently constructing a Municipal Hall Building worth a quarter of a million pesos on the island. That would be something for a piece of land known to have receive scant love, some say, from the forgotten administrations of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
BARMM Interior Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo. (Photo: SDN -- SciTech and Digital News)
What you used to be the limited territory of the ARMM has become the core, naturally, of the Bangsamoro region, and now plus the City of Cotabato and 63 barangays (villages) in North Cotabato province, but now under the jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro government after a plebiscite in February 2019. That's some love!
The Bangsamoro region, established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao (now split as Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte), Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the 63 barangays or villages dubbed Special Geographic Area (SGA) that voted "yes" in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; Maguindanao, 36; Sulu, 19; and Tawi-Tawi, 11. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital) in Maguindanao; Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur.
Remember that BARMM has three island provinces -- Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi -- each of which has many island municipalities surrounded, naturally, by the sea. Which makes truly difficult to reach out to these island municipalities. Landlocked are Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, and Maguindanao del Norte. No problem there.
So, no surprise that even with the distance and the dangers posed by the weather-affected sea in getting to Municipality of Turtle Islands, the MILG is undaunted. It's duty and responsibility for the Bangsamoro government to do so. But a nice way of letting your constituents that you care. Kudos to BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag "Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim and his Sinarimbo, his Interior Minister.
Credit: MILG
Turtle Islands is a 5th class municipality with population of 5,683 people says the census in 2020.
The country's most remote town will soon have its own Municipal Hall Building being built overlooking Celebes Sea and Sulu Sea. In fact, Sinarimbo"s MILG is bringing progress to Turtle Islands.
"The municipality of Turtle Islands Tawi Tawi is the farthest municipality of the region and is located at the southwestern tip of the archipelago. It is closer to Malaysian than to its capital town Bongao. The islands is home to the sea turtles.
"Despite its distance, we are also constructing a Municipal Hall for this farthest municipality to ensure governance is also felt here. This is the progress of our ongoing project there. We thank the LGU of Turtle Islands led by Mayor Haji Faisal Jamalul for this partnership.
Through the MILG the Bangsamoro government has been in binge in implementing various construction projects in the BARMM's various municipalities and barangays, such as Municipal Halls, Philippine National Police (PNP) Stations, Public Markets, Public Terminals, Tourism Centers, and putting up Seawater Desalination Facilities, and rehabilitating water systems. Particularly in BARMM's three island component provinces, many municipalities had not had their own potable water sources for "eons", as Sinarimbo, Bangsamoro spokesperson is wont to say. Until when BARMM was established.
Façade of the of Main Building of the BARMM Government that houses the Office of the Chief Minister. (Photo: SDN -- SciTech and Digital News)
The MILG chief said the infrastructure project for Turtle Islands is being funded under the Local Moral Governance Fund (SLMGF) 2021, is part of the Ministry's Local Government Facilities Development (LGFD) Program, which aims to improve the services of BARMM's constituent local government units (LGUs).
DENR turns over to MENRE the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary
He added the Turtle Islands' new and modern Municipal Hall would serve as a venue for conducting local government business, implementing government services, and conducting related public services and activities within offices or Council meeting rooms. The new town hall will not only serve as a Help Desk for government bureaucracy, but it will also serve important symbolic functions in the community, as multiple departments, offices, and agencies will assist the Municipal Mayor in implementing policies for the betterment of the town and its people's livelihood.
Sinarimbo relayed his appreciation to the Turtle Islands LGU under the leadership of Mayor by Mayor Mohammad Faizal H. Jamalul, for their cooperation.
For the uninitiate, and want to learn more about the far away municipality, here's some bits of information from the MILG
Turtle Islands in the southwestern tip of the Philippines is one of the Philippine archipelago's 7,641 islands scattered on a vast area.
"The Republic of the Philippines is a sovereign state in archipelagic Southeast Asia, with 7,641 islands spanning more than 300,000 square kilometers of territory." The quote is from "Gov.Ph".
Presidential Proclamation No. 171, Series of 1999 established Turtle Islands, based on Republic Act No. 7568's requirements, as a protected and natural breeding ground for green sea turtles, known in local dialect as "pawikan". The municipality is only around 30 minutes of speed boat to Sandakan, which is the erstwhile capital of of British North Borneo. Getting to Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi, takes 12 to 15 hours via a "lantsa" (boat).
Six islands comprise Turtle Islands, such as Taganak (its former name), Baguan, Langaan, Boan, Lihiman, and Great Bakungan.
R.A. No. 7568 is also known as the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPA) Act of 1992, and R.A. No. 9147 (the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act clearly prohibit the collection of turtle eggs on Turtle Islands.
Recall that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) turned over on the 23rd of May 2021 the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (TIWS) as the mandate of the Bangsamoro Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy (MENRE) presently headed by Minister Akmad Brahim covers the protection and preservation of the Bangsamoro region's biodiversity.
"It is in the mandate of MENRE to formulate policies and guidelines, and will implement programs, activities and projects for the protection and preservation of biological diversity and the endangered flora and fauna in the Bangsamoro region," BARMM Senior Minister Abdulraof Macacua had emphasized at the turnover of the TIWS.
With that words, and the attention from the MILG, it is hoped that MENRE will fulfill its mandate in protecting, preserving, and taking great of the little sea and land creatures that inhabit Turtle Islands. (✓)
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