BARMM education chief’s retention welcomed

 COTABATO CITY, Philippines —  School administrators and teachers as well as local officials have welcomed the retention of Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal.

Iqbal was among 30 regional executives who filed their courtesy resignations last month as part of a reshuffle in the regional bureaucracy.

Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua yesterday said he rejected the courtesy resignation of Iqbal, who has been the education minister in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao since 2019.

The BARMM, a product of 22-year peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), was established in 2019, replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. 

Iqbal and Macacua are members of the central committee of the MILF.

“We are thankful to our chief minister for having rejected the courtesy resignation of Education Minister Iqbal,” Myra Mangkabung, schools division superintendent in Lamitan City, said.

In a post on social media, officials and employees of the Ministry of Higher, Basic and Technical Education in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi as well as in the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan and Marawi expressed their appreciation for Iqbal’s retention.

Maguindanao del Norte Vice Gov. Marshall Sinsuat and Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali Matabalao said they were happy with Iqbal as education chief.

Iqbal was instrumental in the crafting of the MILF’s peace agreement with Malacañang. He is the seventh BARMM official retained by Macacua.