A screening committee created for applicants to key positions in eight newly-created towns in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) started its work, a top regional official said Thursday.

In a statement, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim said he issued on Wednesday an order for the formation of an Ad Hoc Screening and Review Committee for those applying for the positions of town mayors, vice-mayors, and council members in the new areas in the region’s Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato province.

Ebrahim named lawyer Sha Elijah B. Dumama-Alba, a member of the BARMM parliament and concurrent regional interior minister, as committee chairperson.

In August last year, the BTA enacted eight Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts, creating eight municipalities in the SGA.

These laws were eventually ratified in plebiscites on April 13 in the areas of Kapalawan, Old Kaabakan, Malidegao, Ligawasan, Tugunan, Nabalawag, Kadayangan, and Pahamuddin.

The new municipalities were carved out from the SGA’s 63 villages in North Cotabato, which joined the expanded BARMM through a two-part plebiscite in 2019.

Ebrahim tasked the committee to submit within 45 days a shortlist of at least three nominees for every vacancy in the municipal positions in each of the eight SGA municipalities.

The chosen officials will serve their respective municipal governments with funding support from the BARMM until their successors are elected in the May 2025 local elections. (PNA)