Only a handful of employees were seen standing at attention to the year’s last flag retreat at the center of the regional government in Cotabato City. A top regional official described 2024 as the “toughest year” for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
More importantly, BARMM Cabinet Secretary and spokesperson Mohammad Asnin Pendatun said the region is no longer the country’s poorest in more socioeconomic terms, citing recent data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim in August declared: “The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is no longer the poorest region in the Philippines, as its full-year poverty incidence dropped significantly to 23.5 percent in 2023 (from 28 percent in 2021 and 52.9 percent in 2018),” quoting PSA reports released on August 15.
In terms of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), BARMM recorded growths in the current year PSA reports from its 2023 generated data. Lanao del Sur had the fastest-growing GDP in the region with a 5.02 percent growth rate, closely followed by Maguindanao del Norte with 4.99 percent economic growth.
Provincial Director Ronjamin Maulana Ph.D. of the BARMM’s Ministry of Agrarian Reform Fisheries and Agriculture said a part of the agency’s savings were reallocated for direct financial assistance to local farmers to help them bear the cost of inputs, on orders of Minister Mohammad S. Yacob, Ph.D.
Governor Abdulraof Macacua of Maguindanao del Norte likewise underscored the local economic performance of the infant province.
The region sustained an improving economic index with an inflation rate dropping 0.9 percent to 6.7 percent in April 2023 from 7.6 percent in March of the same year.
BARMM’s job portal also received 1,118,253 applications for all 11,104 positions posted.
“That’s roughly 100 applications for every position,” Pendatun said.
