COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Thousands of Muslim and Christian professionals stand to benefit from the setting up soon of a service facility of the Professional Regulation Commission in this city, the seat of the Bangsamoro region.
Professionals from the Moro, settler and indigenous non-Moro communities in the Bangsamoro region need to travel to the faraway cities of Koronadal, Davao Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga City in Regions 12, 11, 10 and 9, respectively, for renewals of PRC licenses and other transactions.
Bangsamoro Labor Minister Muslimin Sema told reporters Saturday he and PRC’s director for Region 12, Rotelo Cabugsa, met here Thursday and agreed to forge ahead with the creation here, as planned early on, of an office of the commission that shall cater to the needs of professionals from across the autonomous region.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao covers the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato.
In a statement received by media outfits in BARMM Saturday, Cabugsa said they are committed to put up a center in this city, as requested by regional officials, among them members of the Bangsamoro parliament.
He and Sema had separately said the PRC 12, whose regional office is in Koronadal City, and the Ministry of Labor and Employment-BARMM shall together establish the outfit.
“That would be a big help to professionals in the Bangsamoro region,” Sema said.
Sema and Cabugsa discussed the modalities of the plan at the MoLE-BARMM’ regional office in the 32-hectare Bangsamoro capitol compound here.
Cabugsa was accompanied in his meeting with Sema by the chief of their licensure and registration division, Marzokie Mocsir, and supervising administrative officer Naomi Baraga.
Senior MoLE-BARMM officials --- Deputy Minister Tommy Nawa, Director General Surab Abutazil Jr., legal officer Haris Pinguiaman and two ministry technical consultants, Lito Coloso and Engineer Dong Anayatin --- were also present in the meeting.
“It was a fruitful meeting,” Cabugsa said.
Sema and Cabugsa had also agreed to conduct in this city on June 24 a mobile outreach activity, meantime, to facilitate renewal of licenses and identification cards, process applications for licensure examinations and authentication of PRC documents that professionals keep as official records.
“All is set for that outreach activity,” Sema said.