A PHILIPPINE senator has filed a bill that seeks to create a new province called Kutawato within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) that would cover residents from 63 “orphaned” villages that joined the region and ensure they can vote in the elections.
Under Senate Bill No. 2875, which Senator Robinhood Ferdinand C. Padilla filed on Monday, the proposed Kutawato province will be composed of the towns of Pahamuddin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Old Kaabakan, Kapalawan, Malidegao, Tugunan, and Ligawasan.
“To facilitate the swift development of these newly established municipalities within the special geographic area and to ensure the provision of essential services to their constituents, it is essential to establish a province that will oversee and support these localities,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note.
Mr. Padilla added that the creation of the province would streamline the delivery of basic services and enhance local government operations within the region.
In 2019, a total of 38,682 residents — comprising a majority — voted in favor of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which included Cotabato City in the new Bangsamoro region.
The city, although geographically within Maguindanao province that was already part of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, was previously under the SOCCSKSARGEN region.
The new BARMM, borne out of a peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has expanded political and financial autonomy.
“It outlines the powers and functions of the provincial government, including but not limited to revenue generation, taxation, land use regulations, consistent with the provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991,” Mr. Padilla said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez