DAVAO CITY—The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government in the new Bangsamoro autonomous region, will finally hold its first official function on Friday, when it will be also formally inaugurated and its officials inducted into office.
The BTA will be inaugurated into its parliament function at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex of Cotabato City, which has also become an official territory of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) following a positive vote for inclusion during the January plebiscite.
President Duterte was scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony, with the Presidential Communication and Operations Office (PCOO) confirming his attendance in a media advisory on Thursday.
The BARMM Bureau of Public Information said “thousands of supporters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front [MILF] are expected to gather at the venue to observe the inauguration ceremony.”
“The BTA is also set to hold its inaugural session on the same day. Among its agenda would be the adoption of its rules, and the election of the wali, speaker, deputy speaker and other presiding officers of the parliament.
A wali is described as someone holding ceremonial duties only such as opening of the parliament session, administering oaths of office, dissolving parliament as advised by the chief minister, calling for election of new parliament and attending public ceremonies.
The information office quoted Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim, the Bangsamoro government chief minister, as saying that members of the BTA will take their oath before the Quran.
“We started the jihad with an oath before the Quran, and we will also take an oath before the Quran as we start our governance,” he added.
Ebrahim was expected to submit to the BTA the transition plan to cover the proposed organizational plan of the regional bureaucracy and its implementation schedule. The BTA, by a majority vote of all its members, “may approve or otherwise act on the proposed transition plan within ten days upon submission by the chief minister.”
The information office said the BTA includes the 41 members nominated by the MILF, 39 nominees of the national government, and the elected officials of the now abolished Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
This body will serve as the government of the new autonomous region until the election and constitution of the Bangsamoro parliament in 2022.
Among the BTA’s priorities will be the passage of important legislation such as the Bangsamoro Administrative Code, Bangsamoro Revenue Code, Bangsamoro Electoral Code, Bangsamoro Local Government Code and the Bangsamoro Education Code.