BARMM normalization on track: Nograles

“We’re confident that with DAP’s guidance and expertise, these governance initiatives will turn out robust and responsive,” Nograles, co-chair of the Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization (ICCMN), said. (PNA file photo)

MANILA – Various institutional mechanisms for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are on track, a Palace official said.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, in a statement, bared that “things are on track and proceeding as planned” in establishing BARMM offices for youth, women, settler communities, disaster risk reduction management, planning and development, and the attorney general.

This comes after the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) signed a memorandum of agreement to jointly form the core agencies of BARMM.

“We’re confident that with DAP’s guidance and expertise, these governance initiatives will turn out robust and responsive,” Nograles, co-chair of the Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization (ICCMN), said.

The ICCMN monitors and oversees the progress of implementing the transition to a fully autonomous Bangsamoro region.

Last June, Nograles announced the decommissioning of 12,000 former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants as a key component of the normalization and transition process.

Decommissioning involves MILF soldiers slowly giving up their weapons and ease into civilian life, with programs waiting to transform them into productive members of their local communities.

Nograles said these former troops and their families are expected to receive housing, livelihood assistance, skills development training, scholarships, employment opportunities, PhilHealth coverage, conditional cash transfers and documentation such as birth certificates and postal IDs.

“We’re being thorough in our preparations, addressing both grassroots and upper level management challenges. We’re way past the experiment stage as far as Bangsamoro autonomy is concerned and our goal is to make everything work and succeed,” Nograles said.

The Cabinet Secretary emphasized that President Rodrigo Duterte, the country’s first top leader from Mindanao, considers Muslim autonomy a crucial factor in the region’s development.

Duterte earlier directed the appropriate officials to hasten the implementation of the BARMM’s realization.