ARMM guv urges constituents to keep support for BBL

COTABATO CITY ---  Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman urged his constituents last June 4 to continuously support the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) pending before Congress.

A bicameral conference is set to reconcile the two versions of the proposed law following its passage by both the Senate and the House of Representatives the other week.

“There is no final BBL yet as of now because of the impending bicameral conference of both chambers of Congress. We should just be glad as the President has earlier certified the bill as urgent,” Hataman told regional office workers at the Shariff Kabunsuan Complex here.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will immediately sign the bill into law once it lands on his desk.

Hataman has repeatedly expressed his willingness to step down once the BBL becomes a law to give way to the new Bangsamoro political entity that would replace the old ARMM makeup.

“I am glad to inform you that the past seven years that I took over the helm of the ARMM, we have managed to hurdle what many deemed as impossible,” he said.

The governor said the ARMM’s limitations made efforts to develop the region “extra challenging.”

He noted, however, that the accomplishments of the regional government are a shared effort of everyone.“Who could imagine that we could turn the region’s economy from negative to a positive standing? On the aspect of education, for example, we have spun the -.4 percent to 7.3 percent,” he said.

In addition, the governor also noted that more than 1,000 roads across the region have been concreted in the past seven years. “Maybe it’s safe to say that we have done the impossible,” he said.

Hataman called for unity among his constituents, urging them to raise the level of discourse on the issues confronting the ARMM.

“For heavy social media users, maybe it’s time to make negative criticisms of the ARMM into constructive ones,” he said.

The ARMM comprises the cities of Lamitan and Marawi and the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Basilan, and Lanao del Sur. (Noel Punzalan, PNA - Cotabato/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)