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The Philippine Ports Authority-Port Management Office in Cotabato City is now officially under the control of the Bangsamoro Ports Management Authority
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Turned over on November 10 were PPA-PMO Cotabato City properties such as the office building, assets, and jurisdiction over the port
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BPMA general manager Garib Abas sees the development as an opportunity to begin implementation of priority projects not only in Cotabato City but also in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi ports
The Philippine Ports Authority-Port Management Office (PPA-PMO) in Cotabato City is now officially under the control of the Bangsamoro Ports Management Authority (BPMA).
PPA PMO-Region XII officer-in-charge (OIC) Virgilia Lastimosa and PPA PMO-Cotabato City OIC Myra Ebita Deticio transferred the pertinent documents to BPMA general manager Garib Abas during a virtual turnover ceremony on November 10.
Also turned over were the PPA-PMO Cotabato City properties such as the office building, assets, and jurisdiction over the port, the Bangsamoro Information Office said in a statement.
PMO Cotabato has jurisdiction over the baseport of Cotabato and Kalamansig port in Sultan Kudarat.
BPMA is one of the agencies under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), which manages, administers, and operates all ports under the jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro region. On March 27, 2021, the Department of Transportation also officially turned over its functions and assets to MOTC.
“The real essence is we will manage it [PMO] according to what is agreed [in the] peace agreement,” MOTC Transport Minister Dickson Hermoso said, adding that it won’t be just BPMA that will be under its office but many other sectors.
Hermoso said the port will serve as one of the gateways for providing livelihood opportunities to people in the region.
Abas sees the turnover as an opportunity to fully operationalize BPMA and begin implementation of priority projects not only in Cotabato City but also in Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi ports as well.
For 2022, Abas said priority infrastructure projects already lined up include fencing for Maluso port, and terminal buildings for the ports of Maluso, Siasi, Sitangkai, Mapun, Taganak, Bonggao, and Jolo.
BARMM, the only region in the Philippines with its own government, consists of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
