BARMM executive assures UNICEF ambassador of support

FULL SUPPORT --- BARMM Acting Executive Secretary Abdullah Cusain (2nd right) and BARMM Minister for Indigenous Peoples Affair Melanio Ulama (center)) hand over a memento to singer-actor Gary Valenciano as UNICEF chief of field office Andrew Morris and Valenciano’s wife, Angeli, look on. The BARMM officials assured the UNICEF representatives that they will support all UNICEF programs in the region following Valenciano’s visit to Upi, Maguindanao last September 26. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BPI-BARMM / MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

COTABATO CITY  ---  An official of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)   assured last September 27 the United Children’s Fund (UNICEF) national ambassador Gary Valenciano that the region is supporting all UNICEF programs.

Abdullah Cusain, BARMM acting executive secretary, made the pronouncement after Valenciano, known in showbiz as Mr. Pure Energy, visited the mountain town of North Upi, Maguindanao last September 26 to mingle with the indigenous people (IP) in the area, especially the children.

Before his visit to North Upi, Valenciano paid a courtesy call to the BARMM Office of the Chief Minister here with Cusain and Minister Melanio Ulama of the region’s IP affairs ministry, accepting him.

Accompanying Valenciano here were his wife Angeli and Andrew Morris, the UNICEF chief of the field office, who also both went with the former to North Upi.

“BARMM supports all programs for the benefit of children, especially Moro children,” Cusain said in a statement.

Valenciano’s visit to the upland town forms part of UNICEF’s campaign to strengthen the promotion and protection of the rights of children in the Bangsamoro region.

"Among my advocacies is to make our country polio-free again and to make sure all will be vaccinated," Valenciano told reporters during his North Upi visit.

His visit was also part of the build-up for the observance of the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Children in the BARMM on November 20, 2019, which will be led by the region’s social services office. (EDWIN FERNANDEZ & NOEL PUNZALAN, PNA – COTABATO / MINDANAO EXPOSE’)