Biosketch of Engr. Don Mustapha Arbison Loong CE JD MPSA CESE

Engr. Don Mustapha Arbison Loong is a Member of Parliament of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) since 2019 up to the present.

He is the current Chairperson of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), Committee on Human Settlements and Development (CHSD) and an active member of various committees such as Committees on Public Works, Finance, Budget, and Management, Local Government, Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy, Trade, Investment and Tourism, Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform, Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, and Good Government, Accountability of Public Officers and Investigation or the Blue-Ribbon Committee.

He is one of the few Careers Executive Service Eligible (CESE) individuals in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region.

He obtained Master in Public Safety Administration (MPSA) from the Philippine Public Safety College and is awaiting graduation for his Master in Public Management (MPM) in Ateneo School of Government (ASOG), while simultaneously holding an ongoing Master in National Security Administration (MNSA) by the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) this 2023.

Engr. Loong is not only a Licensed Civil Engineer who received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of the Philippines (Diliman) but also holds a Bachelor of Laws/Juris Doctor from Western Mindanao State University (WMSU), and a diploma in Project Management in Technological Institute of the Philippines.

Before becoming a legislator, he was appointed the Regional Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) of the then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) from 2015 to 2019. He also served as the Assistant Regional Secretary of the said department under Secretary Emil K. Sadain, who is now the DPWH National Undersecretary for UPMO.

Prior to his work at the DPWH ARMM, as an engineer by profession, he was actively involved in managing foreign-assisted government infrastructure with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) funded 222km Samar Roads Project.

He has previously served as the Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary of Planning and Project Management, Usec. Ruben Reinoso for the Department of Transportation and Communication. He also worked for the House of Representatives as a Legislative Staff Officer, helped as an Engineer in DPWH Central Office at the Asian Development Bank Project Management Office, and also served as the Chief of Staff of the Commissioner for Mindanao at the National Youth Commission (NYC).

He also served as the Provincial Administrator, the little governor who exercised close supervision, including the Infrastructure Development in the Province of Sulu from 2004 to 2007.

He is currently the BARMM Regional Coordinator of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), a Naval Squadron Commander of the Philippine Navy Reserve.

His achievements both local and international were promising and to name a few:
• He received the British Government Scholarship called the Chevening Fellowship, where he took a course in Public Sector Reform at Bradford University, United Kingdom.
• He was also a recipient of the flagship leadership program of the United States Department of State, the US International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), to study good governance, electoral reform, and civil society engagement in the US.
• Moreover, he was one of the first batch of the Asian Institute of Management – Mirant Leadership Fellows. It was an intensive one-year mentorship training on leadership and management to bridge societal divides.
• He was one of the summiteers of Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, as part of the Outward-bound Global Leadership Fellows facilitated by Harvard Author Mark Gerzon.
• He studied Project and Portfolio Management at the MCC Infrastructure College, Washington DC in 2013
• In 2018, he was awarded by the UP Alumni Association with a UP Distinguished Alumni award for Public Service and Good Governance for his initiatives that promote organizational effectiveness, transformational leadership, transparency, vigilance, and optimization of resources in the building of Infrastructure projects in the bottom of the pyramid communities in the ARMM.
• In 2017, he was awarded Huwarang Dangal ng Dakilang Mindanaoan for services rendered to the poorest communities in the Country in the ARMM via Infrastructure Development as well as reforms introduced in the agency.
• In 2016, the UP College of Engineering and UP COE Alumni Association awarded him the UP National Achievement Award for Government Service for implementing more than one thousand five hundred kilometers of roads in the ARMM and his innovative use of technology for transparency and implementation of infrastructure projects in a conflict-affected region.
• He was awarded an Education Ambassador by the British Embassy in the Philippines to help disseminate British scholarships in the Philippines.
• He was also awarded by Junior Chamber International (JCI) second place in the Asia Pacific Competition for public speaking as the representative of the Philippines after winning in the Philippine and regional rounds.

He strongly advocates Infrastructure Development, Bangsamoro Justice, Health, Education, Peace and Security, and Livelihood Development and Cooperatives, all of which are anchored to his projects and legislative measures.

Engr. Loong has principally authored numerous bills and resolutions from the first BTA Parliament until the present.

He is a native of Sulu as his father is a native of Parang Sulu and his mother, from Luuk Sulu.