63 villages in NoCot to be turned over to BARMM

By BITOON A RANAO

November 14, 2019

COTABATO CITY: The 63 barangays in North Cotabato which voted in last February's plebiscite to join the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will be officially turned over to the regional government on November 20, 2019.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, Bangsamoro Government spokesperson and minister of interior and local government, said the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of North Cotabato has adopted a resolution indicating the turnover of the 63 barangays to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

The 63 barangays are located in the municipalities of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pigcawayan, and Pikit.

According to Sinarimbo, the decision is to turn over the 63 barangays during the next regular session of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

He said he had a meeting with the technical staff of the Provincial Sanggunian on November 05 to discuss the details of the said turn over.

Further, the said barangays will continue to receive their Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA) directly from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). “Entitlement po nila ‘yon and it will not change. They will receive their IRA from the DBM,” he said.

“The 63 barangays [will] be constituted into a special geographic area where it will be administered by an Administrator. We will have ministries putting their people in the administrative set up so we can continue to deliver services there,” Sinarimbo added.

63 of the 67 barangays in six municipalities in North Cotabato opted to join the expanded Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in a plebiscite held in February this year. (BPI-BARMM)