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Friday, March 29, 2024

Forum focuses on BARMM development

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Kabacan, Cotabato— The United Youth for Peace and Development (UNYPAD) is hosting in a dialogue-series between community citizens and officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

UNYPAD President Dr. Rahib Kudto in a Bangsamorol Forum 

Dr. Rahib Kudto, UNYPAD said developing and establishing an institution like BARMM should evolve from the “solid foundation” of “strong partnership between the government and the communities of the governed.”

“Establishing a government is never that easy. We need to strengthen its core foundation from the grassroots communities and sustain the ties, the relationship between the government and the communities of the governed,” Kudto said.

Kudto said the UNYPAD with support from The Asia Foundation (TAF) is hosting the dialogue-series between officials and grassroots leaders and residents in November for the BARMM village clusters of Carmen, Mindsayap, Kabacan, Pikit and Aleosan towns. 

These towns in Cotabato province are the mother municipalities of all 63 barangays that voted to be part of BARMM for an extended autonomy in a plebiscite held in February 2019.  

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He said the dialogue will serve as a forum of exchanges between Members of the Bangsamoro Parliament, the heads of the Executive Offices on one side, and members and leaders of grassroots communities, including barangay officials.

“This is not only in Kabacan, but for the entire SGA (BARMM Special Geographic Area in Cotabato Province), as you can see, there are attendees here from Carmen, Midsayap, Pikit and Aleosan,” Kudto said.

Kudto said the dialogue-series is a UNYPAD project funded by The Asia Foundation (TAF). “This is an undertaking by the UNYPAD in working collaboration with The Asia Foundation as funding partner,” he pointed out.

“We’ve had talks with officials and members of the communities of the SGA and listen to their issues and concerns, especially about what they feel about the BARMM,” he said, adding that:

“There are lots of questions, and one of which being is how BARMM would be able to help them, and many also feel being left behind; that nobody talks to them, and that they fear that they would have no way to directly engage people in BARMM.”

He said people in these communities would by now feel that “there is no truth to whatever was it that they felt such as being neglected, left behind, and having no way through engaging people in BARMM…”

Kudto said whenever people or leaders in the communities needed to raise concerns to specific officials in BARMM, they can go directly to concerned offices, especially to specific ministries that could appropriately address their concerns, and that they should not hesitate to go there and talk to our leaders so that their concerns could properly be heard and be taken up. 

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