MORAL GOVERNANCE. Newly elected village officials of Cotabato City took their oath of office Monday (Nov. 6, 2023) before Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim (inset), formalizing their assumption as new community leaders in the area. Ebrahim called on the village officials to promote moral governance in running the affairs of their communities. (Photo courtesy of Cotabato CIO)
COTABATO CITY – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim has called on newly elected barangay officials here to push for “moral governance” that the regional government has been advocating in adherence to truthfulness and transparency.
“Protect the interest and the rights of their respective constituents,” Ebrahim told nearly 600 new village and Sangguniang Kabataan officials of the city’s 37 barangays during a mass oath-taking ceremony held at the BARMM government center here on Monday.
Early on, Ebrahim administered the “oath of moral governance” of the elected village officials in ceremonies attended by Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao, Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof Macacua and BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo.
Ebrahim said BARMM officials must be guided by the tenets of moral governance as a guiding principle as they serve their constituents.
“This means that the acts of the BARMM government must be legal and legitimate; its policymaking rational and deliberative. It is responsible to its people and ensures checks, balances, and accountability to them,” he said.
The chief minister also rallied the officials to strongly “fight the proliferation and use of illegal drugs and other evils of society. You will have bigger responsibilities now, serve your people as expected of you by law and by God."
In his message, Sinarimbo reminded the newly elected village officials of the region’s 2,592 villages to run barangay affairs by being good examples to their fellow villagers.
“Stay in your village, your physical presence is important in local governance. You should be readily available when people need you, especially during office hours,” Sinarimbo said.
BARMM has established transition teams to manage the fiscal and physical accountabilities of both outgoing and incoming village officials, he added. (PNA)
