With the ongoing celebration of Eid Al-Adha, the House of Representatives (HoR) passed and submitted to the Senate the House Bill 5889 for the creation of the Muslim-Christian Unity Highway.

Principal author Lanao del Norte 1st District Representative and Chair, Committee on Mindanao Affairs Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo said the bill is crucial due to the direct and indirect economic impact on Northern Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“About the Bangsamoro elections originally scheduled for 2022, I believe the Senate, in this aspect, should follow the House, it being a local/regional bill. There are at least three bills in the House on the same matter, so to hasten passage, the House leadership might be inclined to move those bills pending in committee,” Dimaporo said.

He also added that the pandemic has adversely affected the program and activities needed to ensure success of the BARMM. “It does not look like the pandemic is ending anytime soon. That is at least three years of delays on the ground and so I believe it is necessary to reset the BARMM elections to 2028 (HB 8222). This will ensure that the budget required to demobilize the MILF combatants is secured by authorizing DBM to charge it to the Block Grant,” Dimaporo explained.

“In the meantime, we in Congress will keep supporting BARMM through the national budget. We will also strive to approve more laws for the welfare of Filipino Muslims and all Mindanaoans and exercise our oversight authority on laws already in effect” Dimaporo ended.

Photo Credit:Facebook/KhalidDimaporoOfficial