Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Member of Parliament Amilbahar Mawallil. (Photo courtesy of BARMM-BTA)
COTABATO CITY – A lawmaker in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) filed separate bills Monday afternoon aimed at improving the lives of farmers and poor but deserving students.
In one of his bills, Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) parliament member Amilbahar Mawallil is seeking the establishment of the Bangsamoro Scholarship and Return Service Program for underprivileged students.
“It will aid qualified students from the region who wish to pursue education and training in any state universities and colleges in the country,” Mawallil, a journalist-turned-parliamentarian, said in a statement Tuesday.
Mawallil believed that many young Bangsamoro students wish to study and earn a college degree but were impeded by poverty and lack of opportunities.
In his explanatory note, Mawallil said that after completing their studies at state universities and colleges, the scholars would be absorbed into the Bangsamoro government and will receive an appropriate civil service rank, salary and other benefits.
Likewise, Mawallil, filed Parliament Bill No. 62, also known as the Bangsamoro Coffee Industry Development Act of 2022, which would create the Bangsamoro Coffee Research and Development Institute to promote, develop, and oversee the coffee industry in the region.
The research institution will be based at Mindanao State University in Jolo, Sulu, part of BARMM which produces popular and famous homegrown signature coffee -- the “Kahawa Sug,” also known as “Sulu Robusta.”
One way of helping coffee farmers in Sulu and nearby areas, he said, is to improve revenue generation as well as help propagate one of Sulu’s native products. (PNA)
