Content Creation - Bangsamoro Parliament Member

With the BTA Bill No. 162, or the Bangsamoro Scholarship Grant Act, we forward the right and access of Bangsamoro constituents to higher education.

The bill seeks to establish a Bangsamoro Scholarship and Return Service Program for deserving students who wish to pursue education and training in any state university or college in the country. The provision for return service then involves the scholars being absorbed by Bangsamoro Government after graduating and receiving the appropriate civil service rank.

This will not only be beneficial to the scholars but would also benefit the government through the gainful employment of competent professionals and public servants of the region.

Photo courtesy of Shehzad Noorani, UNICEF Philippines

On March 15, Tuesday, I, along with Bangsamoro Parliament Member Engr. Baintan Ampatuan filed the BTA Bill No. 176, also known as “AN ACT PROMOTING CLEAN WATER IN THE BANGSAMORO, INCLUDING SAFE DRINKING WATER, THROUGH EFFECTIVE WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”

The measure seeks to address the persistent lack of potable water in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It will give the Bangsamoro Government the mandate to develop an effective system of water quality management that will help protect human health, prevent drinking water health hazards, and protect, preserve, and revive the quality of fresh, brackish, and marine waters in the region.

The proposed measure is also supported and co-authored by members of parliament Atty. Laisa Alamia, Atty. Rasol Mitmug Jr, Atty. Suharto Ambolodto, Engr. Don Mustapha Loong, Rasul Ismael, Abraham Burahan, Sittie Shahara Mastura, and Atty Paisalin Tago.

Photo courtesy of UNICEF

In early 2021, we filed Bill No. 88, or "An Act Declaring March 6 of Every Year as Bud Dajo Day". Bud Dajo has been an inactive volcano since 1897. In January 1906, Gen. Leonard Wood decided to take a personal interest in "a significant number of dissatisfied persons" hiding in the area. Despite existing instructions from Washington needing prior permission for any military action, he initiated a campaign and authorized an assault on Bud Dajo, with assault columns leaving Jolo on March 5, 1906.

Today, we commemorate the Tausug's resistance to foreign occupation and their continuing quest for peace and self-determination. We also remember the brave spirits who stood their ground in the face of death.

This bill serves to be one step toward addressing the historical injustice committed against our people.

Photo courtesy of John Pershing (US Library of Congress)

Through a proclamation issued last year, Bangsamoro Government Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim declared the month of March as Bangsamoro History Month. With the theme: "Strengthening BARMM through the lessons of the past and the promises of the future," this year's commemoration reminds us of our rich and colorful history as a people, across the decades and centuries. The whole month of March serves as a fitting tribute to those who came before us who shed blood and sacrificed so that we enjoy everything we have now. This is also a celebration of our recent breakthroughs that contribute to the future we are building together.

This month and for more to come, let us continue to strive for unity towards our common vision of progress and prosperity. Remembering how far we have come, let us do more every day for us to write a remarkable history that future generations will look back to and be thankful for.