MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has created a committee that will help officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) establish the regional government.
”I formed a committee of just a few members of the Cabinet to assist in building the structure of the BARMM government,” the President said.
Duterte said he met with BARMM officials led by interim chief minister Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
”There are several problems there. It took me time to resolve the issues,” the President said during the oathtaking of new appointees at Malacañang on Tuesday.
Duterte said among those discussed is the need to speed up the release of the BARMM budget.
“Just like any government office, you have to have money to buy supplies, to pay the employees and everything,” he said.
At least P30 billion was allocated for BARMM this year.
The President said he also discussed the need to appoint additional officials to serve as liaison between the national government and the Bangsamoro region. – Edith Regalado