LUGUS, Sulu (MindaNews / 02 July) – Mayor Hadar Hajiri has been literally holding office at his bedroom here since assuming power in 2016, his table for the Office of the Mayor and his bed separated by a capiz shell divider. 

“For 41 years, Lugus does not have a municipal hall. When I assumed as mayor, I utilized my house as a municipal hall,” he told reporters recently inside his office-cum-bedroom in this fifth class municipality carved out of Tapul town four decades ago. 

The long wait is over as the town will soon have its own building, the groundbreaking on June 10 graced by Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo who did a five-day swing in the island provinces of  Tawi-Tawi and Sulu when he flew to Tawi-Tawi from the seat of the BARMM in Cotabato City for the inaugural flight of the Philippine Airlines’ twice-weekly Cotabato-Tawi-Tawi-Cotabato route. 

The construction of town halls – 21 of them ongoing —  is in line with the efforts of the Bangsamoro Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) to improve the functionality and performance of local government units (LGUs).

The BARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato, and 63 villages in six North Cotabato towns collectively referred to as Special Geographic Area. 

The region has 116 towns and 2,553 barangays. 

Anchored on the policy of moral governance pushed by Bangsamoro interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, Sinarimbo said his ministry “is going down to last mile communities in the region to let the local officials and their constituents feel the regional government is working for them.”

The construction of town halls is just one of many projects the Bangsamoro government is doing in the three-year old autonomous region. 

“The needs of the LGUs in the island-provinces, given their distance to the regional government center (in Cotabato City) will be much easier to address now with the regular Cotabato – Tawi-Tawi flight,” he said.

From Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi, Sinarimbo’s team visited several island municipalities in the province and in Sulu for groundbreaking of new projects or inspection of ongoing projects under the MILG’s Local Government Facilities Development (LGFD) and the Bangsamoro Local Economic Support Services (BLESS) programs.

According to the MILG Accomplishment report  2019 to 2022, more LGUs “have now demonstrated capacity in terms of project management at their level of compliance with the implementation of the LGFD and BLESS in the construction of 21 municipal hall buildings, 220 barangay halls, 26 public markets, nine municipal police station Type B/C, two public terminals, two legislative buildings, one tourism building, and one building for the Philippine National Police Regional Headquarters.

Fourteen units desalination machines with 10k Hydra and 20k Hydra are also among the projects, along with 12 water system Level II, one fire station and other government facilities such as sanitary landfill and warehouse with integrated grains processing. 

Surrounded by water but with no potable water

Sinarimbo recalled that it was in Lugus last year “when we committed to give this municipality its permanent municipal hall” and signed the memorandum of agreement for the desalination machine for the town. 

He said it was in Lugus “where I first saw the difficulty of lack of potable water in the islands.”

“As we were docking here last year, I saw a boatload of people with plastic containers and I asked the mayor where those people were headed. He told me they were bound for Siasi to fetch drinking water.  Imagine crossing that channel every day to fetch water! It was then that I made a resolve to provide solution to this urgent problem of our people in the islands.  I am glad we are fulfilling that promise now,” he wrote. 

During the Tawi-Tawi and Sulu trip, the MILG handed out checks or inspected ongoing construction projects amounting to P592.25 million for municipal halls, public markets, barangay halls, police stations and desalination facilities.

“The LGUs understand what their needs are. They’re willing to engage the regional government about their needs and they have high hopes these will be addressed. The regional government will take the extra step to accommodate their legitimate needs,” said Sinarimbo, also the BARMM spokesperson.

Beyond the construction projects, however, Sinarimbo said his office is committed  to fulfilling its mission to “ensure the transformation of local government units into inclusive, accountable, responsive, and transparent institutions” and to “promote conflict-free and disaster-resilient communities” in the BARMM. 

The MILG’s four major objectives are to improve the LGU functionality and performance, to have resilient LGUs and Communities, to ensure effective collaboration with other BARMM Ministry-Agencies and development organization-partners; and to sustainably improve on the MILG’s internal capacity. 

Sinarimbo noted that the construction of barangay halls has helped village officials much because now they have a permanent venue where they can hold their regular sessions and they have their own desks in the barangay hall.  

Mayor Hajiri, who is on his third and last term, received a check for half of the P25.75 million cost for the construction of their municipal hall, the remaining amount to be released as key construction milestones are achieved.

“We are thankful to the BARMM government for this municipal hall,” he said, adding the MILG also committed to fund the construction of their police station and two barangay halls.

Architect Gloryrose Dy-Metilla, a consultant of the MILG for the design of the municipal and barangay halls, said the distinct cultural identity of the Bangsamoro forms part of the inspiration in designing the architecture of the facilities.

“We want to showcase the rich heritage of the Bangsamoro, and in effect preserve their diverse culture and tradition through these buildings for the world to appreciate,” she said.

The Bangsamoro region was established in January 2019 following the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM. 

The BARMM’s creation was anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro, the peace agreement signed by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations.

The Bangsamoro government is governed by the MILF-led Bangsamoro Transition Authority, whose mandate has been extended for three more years from June 30, 2022 to June 30, 2025. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

READ: MILG Accomplishment report 2019 to 2022

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