Photo from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Website
DAVAO CITY – The Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) of the national and Bangsamoro governments is fast-tracking meetings to resolve issues on devolution of powers and functions to the new autonomous region in Mindanao.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, in a statement Sunday, said the conduct of frequent meetings stressed the importance which President Rodrigo Duterte has placed on ensuring the success of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Dominguez and BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal are co-chairs of IGRB.
“Although we were asked to convene at 90-day intervals, this hardworking group has actually been meeting more frequently. This is testimony to our shared passion and determination to fast-track the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL)'s implementation and quickly resolve urgent concerns between our parties,” Dominguez said during a virtual meeting held via Zoom.
The meetings, he said, will also ensure a smooth transition of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
IGRB’s meeting was last held on Nov. 27 –– the fifth time which is seven weeks after their previous meeting.
Discussed during the said meeting, among others, were the formulation of mechanisms pertaining to the transfer of assets and properties to the BARMM; a proposed strategic communications plan on the gains, benefits, and accomplishments of the BOL; and the identification of nationally funded programs that can be devolved to or implemented by the BARMM.
IGRB has met three times in the last three months.
The IGRB agreed to meet again by the third week of December to discuss a proposed strategic communications plan to provide stakeholders and the international community with updates on the gains, benefits, and accomplishments of the BOL.
Iqbal said the IGRB, which first convened in December last year, has also become a forum for synergistic interaction between the national and BARMM governments.
The statement said aside from Dominguez, also present at the fifth meeting of the IGRB were Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Undersecretary David Diciano, who chairs the Government Peace Implementing Panel and heads the Joint Normalization Division, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
Also at the meeting were Defense Undersecretary Cesar Yano, Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Emil Sadain, Transportation OIC-Undersecretary Artemio Tuazon Jr., Agriculture Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan, and representatives from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Energy (DOE) and the Office of the Cabinet Secretariat (OCS). Also at the meeting were resource persons from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The BARMM on the other hand was represented in the meeting by Iqbal, Executive Secretary and Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy Abdulraof Macacua; Interior and Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo; Public Works Minister Eduard Guerra; Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform Minister Mohammad Yacob; Transportation and Communications Minister Dickson Hermoso; and Health OIC-Minister Amirel Usman. (PNA)
