BTA Parliament’s Special Committee on Marawi conducted today, July 20, 2020 its third and final “public hearing” with BARMM government officials and international non-government organizations. (GALao, Publication and Media Division, BTA Parliament)
COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament’s Special Committee on Marawi continued its third and final “public hearing” today, July 20, 2020 held at Pagana Kutawato Native Restaurant, this city.
The Special Committee previously conducted the first part of the 3rd public hearing last July 13, 2020 with the objective to gather information on the efforts of the ministries and offices of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for the recovery and rehabilitation of Marawi City.
Member of Parliament (MP) and Special Committee on Marawi Rehab Vice-chairperson Atty. Anna Tarhata Basman said the first and second public hearing were both held in Marawi City in January and February, with resource persons from the national government agencies including Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), civil society organizations (CSOs), representatives from the local government units (LGUs), Barangay Chairmen of the 24 most affected areas, representatives from the barangays of lesser affected areas and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) themselves.
“We were supposed to hold our 3rd public hearing last March but we were interceded by the pandemic so upon the resumptions of the sessions of the BTA Parliament, we called for another meeting of the Special Committee in June to recalibrate our calendar. We agreed on that meeting that July last week (July 13) and today (July 20) will be the session for our 3rd and final public hearings and we look forward to the submission of our final report next month (August) for submission to the plenary for its approval,” MP Basman said.
For today’s hearing, the BARMM government officials have been consulted along with representatives from select international non-government organizations.
Bangsamoro government ministries and offices who presented were the Ministry of Trade, Investment, and Tourism (MTIT), Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG), Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE), and the BARMM- Bangsamoro Regional Inclusive Development for Growth and Empowerment (BRIDGE) program.
Representatives from the international non-government organizations include International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO), United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Community and Family Services International (CFSI) and the International Alert Philippines.
Marawi City is composed of 96 barangays, where 23 of which were the most affected area (MAA) when the devastating Marawi siege took place in 2017 and displaced more than 40,000 households.
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Meanwhile, the Special Committee on Marawi was formed by the BTA Parliament in September last year, through Resolution no. 41, to gather data and information on the status. of the Marawi recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation, among other functions.
Deputy Chief Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) Ali Solaiman serves as Chairperson with Vice-Chairpersons MPs Basman, Hamid Aminoddin Barra, and Abdullah Macapaar. The Special Committee has 29 members, including 21 MPs from the Lanao Region. (GALao, Publication and Media Division, BTA Parliament)