By Ali G. Macabalang

COTABATO CITY – Maguindanao del Norte OIC-Governor Abdulraof Macacua has announced vital moves for his expressed mission to bring the infant province to greater heights, echoing earlier remarks about his view of his own new designation as a test of Palace “trust” in the Bangsamoro leadership.

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In his second press conference here on Monday, Macacua enumerated some vital decisions and plans purportedly meant to flesh out his mission to make Maguindanao del Norte the “best” component province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Such decisions, according to him, were capped by his option to give up promptly his post as BARMM senior minister and eventually his membership in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the BARMM’s interim Parliament.

The senior minister post is equivalent to the Executive Secretary position in the national government. It is vested with power to supervise the operations of all BARMM ministries and line offices, Macacua said in explaining his serious stance in focusing his attention to manage the infant province.

Macacua said he made the painstaking decision to give up his regional posts upon his receipt of the certified copies of his Presidential appointment and his oath of office administered by President Bongbong Marcos on April 5. He presented such documents before the media.

Enabling moves    

The OIC-governor enumerated some of moves involved in the administration of the new province, including his just-formed “transition committee” that would assist him in fleshing out the personnel structure of Maguindanao del Norte.

He presented at the press briefing the organic members of the committee, namely: Badorie Alonzo, a treasurer of the undivided Maguindanao; Monina Macarongong, a former provincial human resources office head; and Nash Imam, a former elected board member and provincial disaster management office head.

He said the committee will lay out the plantilla positions for the new provincial government that would entail at least 238 organic positions equivalent to half of the total position-items in the erstwhile one Maguindanao province. Such position-items shall be approved by the Maguindanao del Norte provincial board to be constituted.

Macacua said there were at least 20 nominees to the provincial board, pointing out that the shortlist of the aspirants will be submitted next week to the Office of the President for appointment.

He underscored the need for the immediate formation of the provincial board of Sangunniang Panlalawigan, even as he bared the possibility of absorbing some of the SP members in the Maguindanao first district elected in the May 8, 2022 elections.

More focused administration

Once the provincial government personnel structure is in place, Macacua said his office would embark on efforts to “truly bring” the provincial government close to municipal level.

For the moment, he said, the transition committee would look into the possibility of designating provincial sub offices in clustered municipalities and of introducing a “mobile” governor’s office installed in a custom-built big bus.

Brighter prospects

Macacua said Maguindanao del Norte has brighter prospects to become a top component province of BARMM, citing the fact that some of the heads of the regional government ministries are constituents of the province expected to help bring their turf to greater heights.

He, however, quickly added that his becoming a head of Maguindanao del Norte administration and the residency of some regional ministers will not undermine the commitment of the BARMM government leadership to yield equitable attention to all component provinces and areas. (With supplied data and photos of Nur-Ali Macabalang)