COTABATO CITY — In line with the formulation of the 1st Bangsamoro Ecological Profile (BEP), the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA), in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), successfully spearheaded a three-day workshop with the officials and representatives from the local government units (LGUs) of Lamitan City and provinces of Basilan and Tawi-Tawi held on August 31 to September 2 in Davao City.
Said workshop aimed to discuss the salient features and outline of the BEP to the LGU officials and representatives, present the LGUโs ecological profile, and identify their available and unavailable data.
As one of the primary actors in determining the path to take for regional development, BPDA Director General Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali underscored the local government unitsโ role in the formulation of the regionโs first ecological profile.
โYou are in the best position to highlight the unique context of your communities and to ensure that the Bangsamoro Ecological Profile captures these important distinctions because you are familiar with the area better than anyone else,โ BDG Ali stressed.
Further, BPDA envisions establishing a reliable regional database that will provide a comprehensive scoping and snapshot of the physical, biological, socio-economic, cultural, political, and built environments of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and its constituent LGUs.
โBEP wants to ensure that it captures and includes the unique geophysical, socioeconomic, cultural, and political contexts of each LGUs,โ said Engr. Kadil A. Sulaik, Jr., Director for Research Development and Special Projects Bureau.
Dir. Sulaik added that BEP is essential not only for informing policy decisions but also for guiding BARMMโs development planning and assessing progress towards the regionโs development goals.
Ever J. Abasolo, workshop facilitator, presented the linkage between the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP) and BEP highlighting that the latter will be the first regional ecological profile that would serve as reference in updating the said development plan (2nd BDP 2023-2028) and formulate policies and programs for the BARMM.
Moreover, the next activity will be participated by the LGU officials from the cities of Cotabato and Marawi and provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur. (Mary Lovella Lao-Lastimosa with reports from Janaima Ebrahim, BPDA-BARMM)