COTABATO CITY (January 20) — Proposals to split three major cabinet ministries in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have triggered intense debate among policymakers, educators, and legal experts, amid warnings that the measures would require congressional amendments to Republic Act 11054, or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has concluded field consultations on Parliament Bills (PBs) 47, 48, and 102, which seek to restructure the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy (MENRE), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), respectively.
The consultations were launched shortly after the BTA approved, in a special session on January 13, the BARMM redistricting measure PB 415, a prerequisite for the Commission on Elections to conduct the region’s long-delayed first parliamentary elections.
PB 415 was approved through nominal voting, drawing 48 affirmative votes, 19 dissenting votes from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) bloc, and four abstentions.
Several key proponents of the districting law — Naguib Sinarimbo, Kitem Kadatuan Jr., Laisa Alamia, and Rasol Mitmug Jr. — are also the principal authors of the bills proposing the reorganization of MBHTE, MENRE, and MAFAR.
In previous committee hearings on ministry budgets, the authors said they uncovered “grey areas” in the fiscal performance of the three ministries, citing low fund absorption rates involving allocations reportedly ranging from ₱500 million to as much as ₱5 billion.
Under PB 47, MBHTE would be split into four separate agencies: a Ministry of Basic Education, a Commission on Higher Education, a Ministry of Technical Education, and a Ministry of Madaris (Arabic Schools) Education, a move proponents say would improve financial management and sharpen operational focus.
Similar rationales underpin PB 48 and PB 102, which seek to divide MENRE into separate ministries for environment and natural resources and energy, and to split MAFAR into a Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and a Ministry of Agrarian Reform.
Bangsamoro educator Dr. Ali Panda publicly backed the proposed MBHTE restructuring, arguing that large budgets lose meaning if agencies cannot spend funds efficiently.
“Education in BARMM must be real and doable. Big budgets are useless if they can’t be spent properly — they don’t help students or teachers and only waste public trust,” Panda said in an online post.
However, incumbent MBHTE officials and personnel countered that operational reforms, rather than fragmentation, are needed to improve fund utilization. They warned that splitting the ministry could displace existing staff and disrupt ongoing programs.
Legal experts have cautioned that restructuring core ministries established under the Bangsamoro Organic Law would require congressional action.
In an online post, lawyer Alanuddin Sulaik Hassan, a known legal adviser to the MILF, said he is prepared to act as pro bono counsel for employees of MBHTE, MENRE, and MAFAR who may be displaced if the proposed overhaul is enacted.
As BARMM continues its transition toward elected governance amid repeated election delays, the debate over whether to streamline or subdivide its ministries has become a broader test of governance philosophy—balancing efficiency-driven reform against institutional stability and workforce protection.
