The Ministry of the Interior and Local Government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MILG-BARMM) has turned over a PHP6.25 million police station in the coastal town of Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao, an official said Friday.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, MILG minister and BARMM spokesperson, said the three-story police station was funded through the Bangsamoro Appropriation Act (BAA) of 2020. It was inaugurated Thursday.

“The building is situated in Barangay Pura, an elevated area of DBS (Datu Blah Sinsuat) facing the Moro gulf,” Sinarimbo told reporters here in an interview.

BARMM Senior Minister Abdulraof Macacua, along with BARMM police director Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona and DBS Mayor Marshall Sinsuat, witnessed the unveiling of the project.

In a statement, Cabalona said he was elated with the BARMM leadership’s prioritization of police facilities across the region.

“This municipal police station building is a testament of the BARMM government’s support to its constituents. This will cater to the needs of our law enforcers and the community as a whole,” Cabalona pointed out.

Mayor Datu Marshal Sinsuat, meanwhile, also thanked the regional government for its continuing support to their municipality.

“We don’t have a police station in the past, so we let our police utilize the barangay hall of Pura,” Sinsuat said.

Sinarimbo reiterated BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim’s assurance that the regional government is determined to empower all local government units for them to effectively deliver services and perform good governance and leadership.

He added that the MILG is expecting the completion of 14 other municipal police stations in the region this year.

BARMM comprises the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan; and the 63 villages six towns of North Cotabato province. (PNA)