163 Islamic missionaries receive stipends from BARMM

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — More than a hundred Islamic theologians involved in peacebuilding projects in far-flung areas received three-month stipends each from the Bangsamoro regional government.

Radio reports in Cotabato City on Saturday stated that each of the 163 payout beneficiaries received P15,642 from the Ministry of Labor and Employment-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as allowance for three months.

The release of the cash grants to the Islamic preachers, among them women, during a gathering on Thursday at the campus of the Jamiat Cotabato and Institute of Technology, was facilitated by MoLE-BARMM’s deputy minister, Tommy Nawa, and their administrative and finance services chief, the lawyer Mohammad Ali Midtimbang Jr.

BARMM Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema told reporters on Saturday that the payout was part of their ministry’s Bangsamoro Internship Development Program covering the six provinces and three cities in the autonomous region.

Of the 163 preachers who received allowances from MoLE-BARMM, 34 are from Cotabato City, 15 are from Maguindanao del Norte, 37 are from Maguindanao del Sur, 50 are from Lanao del Sur and its provincial capital, Marawi City, and 27 are from the 63 Bangsamoro barangays in different towns in Cotabato province in Region 12.

Sema, chairman of the central committee of the Moro National Liberation Front, said some of the 163 Islamic preachers are involved in peacebuilding projects in government recognized enclaves of the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The MNLF and the MILF, whose leader, Ahod Ebrahim, is BARMM’s appointed chief minister, have separate peace agreements with the national government.