Abdulgani Caludtiag, BTA Parliament Sergeant-at-Arms, said the training series were facilitated by security experts from the Philippine Society for Industrial Security (PSIS), the largest organization of security professionals in the country.
“The course aimed at advancing the knowledge of the participants who are BARMM Senior Security Personnel on managing security operations in their respective areas of responsibilities,” he said.
Member of Parliament Abduladzis M. Esmael, Al-Haj, continued his support to Markadz and orphanages through “Project Rahma”, amid the Holy month of Ramadan.
The said project has been in service since 2019. Originating from its term, it bestows a social and charitable endeavour, adhering to the tenets of compassion, kindness, and mercy.
Through the initiative of the Office of MP Esmael, his team gathered orphans in Markadz Arridhwan and Barakah Orphanage on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 27-28.
The former is an Islamic seat for learning with seventy students, while, the latter is a residential institution taking care of sixty children. Both institutions facilitate the education of the children and youth centring on the scholarships of Almighty Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) derived from the Holy Qur’an.
MP Esmael, in his message, said Ramadan is a period of time when Muslims do self-sacrifice, fasting, contemplations, truthful devotions, and acts of kindness.
“Generosity thorugh charitable deeds is a virtue that is principal in Islam. Putting forward good deeds, big or small, toward people on the breadline, increases our capital in the hereafter, and solicits forgiveness of the Almighty Allah (SWT) for it shall fall upon us,” MP Esmael furthered.
Following the official start of the Holy month of Ramadan, MP Esmael has organized a series of aid distribution and scheduled Iftar activities, especially for orphanages and other charitable institutions. (Mohamadan A. Abdulkasan)
COTABATO CITY – Bangsamoro government’s Ministry of Health (MOH) turned over eight units of ambulance to seven towns and a hospital in Lanao del Sur province on Friday, April 30, here.
MOH Minister Dr. Bashary Latiph said the distributed ambulances will help prevent the loss of lives in traumatic and critical incidences especially in distant areas in the Bangsamoro region (BARMM).
“Those ambulances will not only serve as a medical aid for the Bangsamoro people but is a sign of assurance that the government and our medical staff will always be available to treat and prevent life-threatening incidences,” he said.
“By providing those ambulances, we have increased the efficiency of our health community system and improve health initiatives in the Bangsamoro,” he added.
The recipient towns include Tubaran, Butig, Bumbaran, Taraka, Ditsaan Ramain, and Poona Bayabao, and the Wao District Hospital.
Each ambulance unit was supplied with vital emergency medical equipment such as oxygen cylinder, heavy duty stethoscope, folding stretcher, scoop stretcher, automatic external defibrillator, nebulizer, portable suction machine, examining light, and aneroid sphygmomanometer. Two units of mobile phones were also supplied for the ambulance’s driver and the town’s medical officer use.
The units were procured by the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) under the Health Facility Enhancement Program (HFEP) 2019 of MOH.
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim reiterated the regional government’s commitment in elevating the lives of its constituents by improving health services.
“The Government of
the Day is dedicated in providing efficient medical services to the
Bangsamoro,” he said. (Bangsamoro Information Office)
MOH Minister Dr.
Bashary Latiph (right) and DOH Undersecretary Abdullah Dumama (left) sign the
Universal Health Care Implementing Rules and Regulations for BARMM
DAVAO CITY – The Ministry of Health of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MOH-BARMM) and the National Department of Health (DOH) signed the Bangsamoro region’s Universal Health Care (UHC) Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) in a ceremony held here on Monday, April 26.
MOH Minister Dr. Bashary Latiph said the IRR would pave the way for the full implementation of UHC in BARMM, which is reflective of the region’s uniqueness and distinctive structure.
“The UHC affords every Bangsamoro equitable access to quality and affordable health care goods and services and protection from financial risks,” he said.
Latiph said MOH-BARMM crafted the IRR while incorporating all inputs from the series of consultations supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the BARMM Health Project.
In February 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11223, or the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, which automatically includes all Filipinos into the national health insurance program under the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
With the IRR signed, local governments in BARMM must register their constituents to a primary health care provider in their jurisdiction in close coordination with PhilHealth and MOH-BARMM.
Latiph said the success of UHC in BARMM depends on the full cooperation of local governments through the Provincial Health Boards.
The IRR established the UHC BARMM Regional Management Council (RMC), which will oversee UHC implementation in BARMM.
The RMC shall set the BARMM health policy directions, supervise, and monitor the integration and delivery of health services across the health care continuum. It shall also establish monitoring and evaluation protocols in the implementation of the Special Health Fund.
Dr. Abdullah Dumama, Jr., DOH undersecretary for Visayas and Mindanao field implementation and coordination team, said the signed IRR is a significant milestone in pushing for health reforms in BARMM.
“The signing of UHC IRR is a clear manifestation of the BARMM government’s sincerity to uplift the lives of the Bangsamoro people,” he said.
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim commended the MOH-BARMM and all sectors that contributed to the crafting of the signed document.
“I thank everyone for
making this possible and we remain one with the idea that health care is not
just a privilege, but a right that every Filipino and Bangsamoro must enjoy,” he
said in a video message. (Bangsamoro Information Office)
DATU SAUDI AMPATUAN – The military forces here conducted clearing operations on Wednesday, April 28, in Brgy. Kitango of this municipality, in preparation for the turnover of Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST) post building on the following day.
While in operation, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters bombed the area, which damaged the military vehicle. It had prompted the military forces to engage in a gunfire as the BIFF remains hostile.
Earlier, Barangays Dapiawan, Kitango, and Gawang also suffered from armed encounters and mortar shelling between the military and BIFF, which had led to the deaths of two civilians and one wounded resident – all women.
The said conflicts forced residents to leave their homes and evacuate to designated centers by the local government unit.
According to reports, the BIFF are trying to stop the plan of the security forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) troops to put up JPST posts in the affected barangays.
Despite the threats, a formal turnover ceremony of a JPST post was successfully conducted on Thursday, April 29.
The establishment of the post was intended to secure the peace and safety of the residents in the area, under the supervision of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and the MILF.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) of the Bangsamoro government, along with Maguindanao Governor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu and Mayor Edris A. Sindatok, provided financial assistance to the families of the slain civilians and hospitalization of the wounded resident. (DSA-LGU)
COTABATO CITY – Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) Minister Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo personally handed over to Datu Blah Sinsuat (DBS) Municipal Mayor Datu Marshall Sinsuat on Wednesday, April 28, the first tranche of check for the construction of the town’s two-storey government center.
The check worth 12.5 million pesos, grants fifty percent of the project’s total costs. The remaining fifty percent will be given upon the eighty percent physical completion of the project.
The construction, subsidized under MILG’s regular funds and contingency fund provided by the Office of the Chief Minister, aims to enhance local government units’ service delivery for their constituents.
On January 18, Sinarimbo and Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the town mayors of Talayan, Kabuntalan, South Upi, Datu Blah Sinsuat, and Sultan Kudarat for the constructions of their respective municipal halls.
A similar agreement was inked in December 2020 between the MILG and the towns of Sultan Dumalondong, Butig, Poona Bayabao, and Lumbaca Unayan in Lanao del Sur, and Pandag in Maguindanao for the construction of said buildings.
Sinarimbo emphasized that the establishment of town halls across the Bangsamoro region will strengthen the LGU’s reach on the communities at the grassroots.
“Kailangan natin ng presence ng government sa baba para sa kanilang mamamayan upang mas mabilis na natutugunan ang mga pangangailangan nung mga kababayan natin,” he said.
“We have given the contractors 330 days to complete the construction of the buildings,” he added.
The minister further said that a project management team was assigned in the different areas to monitor and ensure that the construction follows the project standards.
“Mayroong continuous na monitoring iyan at doon mismo sa munisipyo ay may naka set-up na project management team kung saan nakaupo ang municipal local government operation officers natin,” said Sinarimbo.
The construction of town halls is part of MILG’s comprehensive intervention and support to the local governments through its Local Government Facilities Development Program (LGFDP) and the Support to Local Government Unit Infrastructure Development Project (SLGUIDP). (Bangsamoro Information Office)
COTABATO CITY – Private companies in the Bangsamoro region have manifested support to the war on COVID-19 and assured to ensure safety of employees from the disease through corporate initiatives.
Representatives from different firms and large-scale entrepreneurs first manifested willingness to help push the government’s anti-COVID-19 initiatives in the region during Friday’s (April 30) start of the two-day Bangsamoro Labor Summit here.
Speakers from various firms who participated in the summit, among them from the Cotabato Light and Power Company Incorporated (CLPC) and the Lamsan Trading in Maguindanao province, said company output and productivity of employees have been foiled by the coronavirus pandemic.
Anna Lea Lee Nataño, human resource manager of the CLPC, said they have formulated business continuity plans essential in coping up with the challenges brought about by the pandemic that they have to surmount.
“We have full management support to government efforts of addressing this COVID-19 problem,” she said.
Nataño said the CLPC now has a company maxim “business as usual under new normal” to motivate all of them in the company and as an assurance of unhampered service to the communities within their franchise areas.
Speakers lamented that importation of raw materials and transport of products to bulk buyers and to faraway trading centers have drastically been constrained as a result of the pandemic, reducing earnings partly intended for salaries and other fringe benefits of workers.
Participants to the summit also narrated new practices meant to ensure the safety of employees through stringent health protocols and mandatory wearing of biohazard masks and face shields in workplaces.
Regional Labor Minister Romeo Sema told reporters Saturday, May 1, he and other officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao got elated with the commitment of support from private companies to the regional government’s anti-COVID-19 campaign.
“Labor blocs also committed support to achieve that objective. All of these augurs well with the efforts of BARMM’s chief minister, Ahod Ebrahim, to address squarely the COVID-19 problem besetting the autonomous region,” Sema said.
The closing program for the two-day BARMM labor summit, organized by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, was held at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex in the 32-hectare Bangsamoro capitol center in Cotabato City.
Workers from the Ministry of Health and the Integrated Provincial Health Office in Maguindanao led by physicians Ameril Usman and Elizabeth Samama, respectively, gave employees of MOLE-BARMM anti-COVID-19 Sinovac vaccines in a makeshift clinic inside the function facility
Usman, director-general of MOH-BARMM, urged reporters covering the summit to help them correct a fallacy that Muslims observing the Ramadan should avoid getting jabs due to religious implications.
The Ramadan season, where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for one lunar cycle, lasting for 28 to 29 days, as a religious obligation, started last April 13.
“The Darul Iftah has declared that it is alright for Muslims to be vaccinated during the Ramadan and that these vaccines are ‘halal’, meaning not forbidden,” said Usman.
The Bangsamoro Darul Iftah, also known as the House of Opinions, is a bloc of Islamic theologians, among them graduates of religious schools in the Middle East and North Africa.
Sema said he is grateful to labor organizations and private companies in the Bangsamoro region for having pledged to continuously impose health protocols in workplaces to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among workers.
“The
commitment is a big help to the government’s war on COVID-19,” Sema said. (Contributor)
This came following the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) on Tuesday, April 27.
The MOA covers P56.5 million Bangsamoro Grants-In-Aid Higher Education Program (BGIAHEP) and the P90.3 million Alternative Learning System (ALS) program for decommissioned combatants (DCs) and their dependents, including selected residents from the six previously recognized MILF camps.
The identification of recipients and target areas will be further determined by OPAPP and MBHTE.
The BGIAHEP is an educational program that will provide subsidies for tuition and other school fees for a semester and summer classes, monthly stipend, book allowance, and learning support to all grantees.
The ALS program, on the other hand, is classified under the umbrella of socio-economic development for DCs and their communities.
Under the MoA, MBHTE has resolved to give help to selected higher education institutions (HEIs) and government organizations to ensure accessible quality education in the Bangsamoro region.
Accordingly, the project initiative is part of all components enshrined in the normalization track of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) – MILF Peace Process which is to “uplift the lives of decommissioned MILF combatants, their families, and their community members.”
It is also part of the many follow-through interventions of the national government after each combatant obtained the transitional cash package worth P100,000.
Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod B. Ebrahim, together with MBHTE Minister Mohagher Iqbal, signed the MoA last April 19 on behalf of the BARMM government.
Iqbal vouched support for the provision of quality education to all beneficiaries towards achieving a peaceful and productive regional government.
“Rest assured that the MBHTE strives to cater and serve every Bangsamoro especially those who fought in this endeavor towards self-determination. It is our way to pay the legacy and service that they have contributed towards sustainable peace in the region.”
“In this new agenda of the Bangsamoro towards moral governance and development. We are steadfast to our goal that no one gets left behind in the progress of the region,” he added.
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. and OPAPP Undersecretary David Diciano, who is also the chair of the government implementing panel, signed the agreement on behalf of the national government.
Galvez, in his message, highlighted the mutual role of the national and regional governments in providing quality of life to their constituents.
“The implementation of these measures under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) is a joint responsibility of our governments.”
“It is this ‘jointness’ that makes the relationship between our governments special. This is why we are focused on further strengthening this partnership, as we adapt to the new normal,” he added.
Diciano also resonated
that the GPH peace implementing panel, together with its peace partners, “must
continue to work relentlessly to deliver all commitments under the CAB.” (Bangsamoro
Information Office)
Labor and quality of life
It is known that the labor movement, which led to the recognition of the rights of workers, is a history of struggle. The said movement, now a global celebration, traces its roots to the US when the imposed 10- to 16-hour work day had caused unrest among laborers, who fought for fair distribution of resources and proper treatment. Backed by socialist groups, demonstrations filled up the streets, which eventually led to violence, deaths, and imprisonment of some organizers. At present, May 1, the day when thousands of business and workers paraded the streets in the US, is recognized by 66 countries, including the Philippines, as International Worker’s Day, or locally known as Labor Day in the country.
In the Philippines, the first recorded Labor Day celebration transpired on May 1, 1903, when Filipino workers retaliated against the treatment of American firms, forcing them to do labor up to 12 hours a day. Thousands of workers marched from Plaza Moriones in Tondo to Malacanang Palace, then the seat of the governor general of the Philippines, to demand for fairer working conditions and complete independence. Later on, the labor movement in the country flourished, as issues continue to plague the lives of laborers such as (but not limited to) contractualization, increasing unemployment rate, and disregard of labor rights and human dignity in workplaces.
Under the new circumstances, given the adverse effects of COVID-19 to the country’s economy and labor sector, both businesses and employees have continued to suffer. The former is burdened by additional costs from ensuring safe working environments, prioritizing the welfare of employees through health and relief assistance, and losing income due to restricted movement and dwindling tourism. The latter is overtaxed by retrenchments, underpayments, inability to sustain their family’s basic needs, threats of COVID-19 especially for frontliners, among others. Given this, safety nets – offering job opportunities to those who were removed from office due to COVID-19, giving assistance to businesses through loans and grants to recover from their losses, distributing hazard payments, and gradual opening of tourism sites – are important. Short term assistance (i.e., relief distribution) can only do so much. Families can have food on their table today, but their tomorrow remains uncertain. Hence, solutions that are responsive to long term needs have to be prioritized.
Apart from Labor Day, the world also recognized the welfare of employees in workplaces on April 28. The “World Day for Safety and Health at Work” gave emphasis on the importance of occupational safety and health, mitigation and management of psychosocial risks, and establishment of conducive working environments. Through these mechanisms, employees are able to fulfill their jobs without any form of discrimination and oppression. This, above all, will ensure dignified work, while allowing employees or workers to achieve growth and development in their chosen fields of expertise.
The
struggle to achieve a humane and dignified labor is simply grounded on the idea
that “everybody is human being”. Everybody deserves to be treated well. Everybody
needs to harness their skills and grow their visions. Everybody deserves
quality of life.
