COTABATO CITY (August 10, 2026) — Two officials, from what is popularly known as the most peaceful municipality in Maguindanao del Norte, had pledged support for efforts of the Commission on Elections, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, all units of the Navy’s 2nd Marine Brigade and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to ensure peaceful and clean September 14 parliamentary polls in the province.

Maguindanao del Norte, one of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has 12 towns, one of which is Datu Blah Sinsuat, whose mayor, Raida Tomawis Sinsuat, is spouse of Maguindanao del Norte’s vice governor, Marshall Sinsuat. Vice Gov. Sinsuat had served as mayor of Datu Blah Sinsuat prior to his election as Maguindanao del Norte’s vice governor during the May 12, 2025 local elections.

Mayor Sinsuat, chairperson of the multi-sector Datu Blah Sinsuat Municipal Peace and Order Council, and Vice Gov. Sinsuat had separately relayed to reporters that they shall help push forward the joint election security missions of the Comelec, the 6th ID, the units of the Philippine Marine Corps and PRO-BAR, meant to ensure peaceful and honest elections in their municipality and in towns around.

Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, acting commander of the Army’s 6th ID, said on Monday, August 10, that he and his subordinate officers in the division appreciate the separate commitments of Mayor Sinsuat and Vice Gov. Sinsuat.

Vice Gov. Sinsuat is not a political warlord, according to Moro and Teduray community leaders in his hometown, the seaside Datu Blah Sinsuat in west of Maguindanao del Norte, touted as the fishing capital of the province.

“As elected officials it is our bounden duty to help the Comelec, the police and the military keep electoral exercises safe and orderly,” Vice Gov. Sinsuat said.

The Comelec, all units of the military’s Western Mindanao Command in BARMM and PRO-BAR are now all set for the first ever September 14 parliamentary elections in the autonomous region.

Captain Steffie Salanguit, spokesperson of PRO-BAR, said their regional director, Police Brig. Gen. Christopher Abecia, is thankful to the Sinsuat couple for their support to the Comelec, the police and military’s joint election security initiatives.

Photo shows the couple Mayor Sinsuat and Vice Gov. Sinsuat. []

COTABATO CITY (August 10, 2026) — Binigyan ng kaukulang papuri nito lang nakalipas na August 5, 2026 ng Government Service Insurance System-Cotabato Branch ang Ministry of Labor and Employment-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao dahil sa maayos na pamamalakad ng pagkaltas ng insurance premiums sa mga kawani ng MoLE-BARMM at sa pag-remit ng naturang collections sa GSIS.

Tumanggap noon ang mga officials ng MoLE-BARMM, sa pangunguna ni Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema, ng special citation mula sa mga GSIS officials — ang GSIS Top Performing Agency Award for 2025 — sa simpleng seremonya sa MoLE-BARMM office sa Bangsamoro regional capitol sa Cotabato City.

Mismong si GSIS-Cotabato Branch Manager Alexis Arumpac at ang kanyang mga subordinate-officials ang siyang nagbigay kay Labor and Employment Minister Sema ng naturang special citation, sa harap ng iba pang mga MoLE-BARMM officials, kabilang sina Deputy Minister Tommy Nawa at ang kanilang director-general na si Surab Abutazil.

Ayon kay Arumpac, maayos ang management nila Labor and Employment Minister Sema ng deductions sa sweldo ng kanilang mga empleyado at pag-remit sa GSIS ng naturang mga premiums, walang delay, naayon sa tamang proseso.

Si Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema ang siyang chairman ng Moro National Liberation Front at presidente din Bangsamoro Party ng MNLF, mas kilala na “Bapa Party” na isa sa mga nangungunang political parties sa BARMM na may mga kandidato para sa parliament ng autonomous region sa darating na September 14, 2026 regional elections.

Ang MNLF ay nagka-peace agreement sa Malacañang noong September 2, 1996 na nabuo sa tulong ng Organization of Islamic Cooperation, isang malaki at influential na organization ng mahigit 50 na mga Islamic countries, kabilang ang mga petroleum-exporting nations sa Middle East at North Africa.

Sa kasalukuyan, may mga representatibo ang MNLF sa 80-member regional parliament na appointed ni President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

Tumutulong din ang grupo nila Labor and Employment Minister Sema sa pamamalakad ng ilang mga agencies ng BARMM government at sa mga peacebuilding activities nito na naglalayong mapalakas, mapalawig ang religious at cultural solidarity ng mga Muslim, Christian at non-Moro indigenous communities sa limang probinsya at tatlong lungsod na sakop ng autonomous region.

Makikita sa larawan sina Labor and Employment Minister Sema at si GSIS Manager Arumpac na siya mismong nag-abot sa kanya ng GSIS Top Performing Agency Award for 2025 bilang pagkilala sa maayos na ugnayan ng MoLE-BARMM at ng GSIS.