Marawi City – Appointed officials and qualified teachers of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) “will continue to sit in their position and perform their duty” as the transition period takes place once the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is passed and eventually ratified.

This was emphasized by Commisioner Jose Lorena of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) during the final leg of the Congressional hearing and public consultation on the BBL held in this city.

One of the concerns raised by the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division of Lanao del Sur during the consultation was the security of tenure of employees, especially the teachers.

Lorena assured the teachers that there is “no intention to remove them from their positions.”

“In fact you will be given more priority in the Bangsamoro because it will weed out the bureaucracy from those positions of personnel who are not qualified,” he said.

“Under the BBL, we would like to upgrade the quality of education in our region,” he added.

Meanwhile, those who will be separated from the service can avail themselves of separation packages as provided under the proposed measure drafted by the BTC.

“In compliance with the request of the ARMM employees association, we provided a provision that those who want to retire will be given the highest retirement package,” Lorena said.

Public consultations on the BBL were held to evaluate the pulse of the constituents, especially those who are included in the core area of the Bangsamoro.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are now eyeing to pass the proposed measure by the end of May 2018 upon the urging of President Rodrigo Duterte, a staunch supporter of the BBL. ###