COTABATO CITY (May 30, 2026) — Mahigit 100 na mga batang mula sa mga mahirap na pamilya ang tumanggap ng mga school supplies, raincoats at bigas sa magkatuwang na outreach mission ng dalawang miyembro ng Bangsamoro parliament sa Barangay Tamped sa Old Kaabacan sa probinsya ng Cotabato nitong Martes, May 26.

Ipinaabot sa mga reporters nitong Sabado, May 30, ni Francisco Saliling, barangay chairman ng Tamped, na 116 na mga batang etnikong Menufu-Aromanen at mga Moro, mula sa mga mahirap na pamilya, ang tumanggap ng mga school supplies, raincoats, mga toothbrush at toothpaste sa naturang relief mission ng dalawang miyembro ng Bangsamoro parliament, sina Froilyn Mendoza at ang doctor na si Kadil Sinolinding, Jr.

Ayon kay Barangay Chairman Saliling, malaking bilang din ng mga residente ng Tamped na may mga problema sa mata at iba pang mga karamdaman ang nasuri din noon ng libre at nabigyan ng mga gamot ng magkasanib na medical teams mula sa tanggapan ni Sinolinding sa parliament, sa Deseret Surgimed Hospital sa Kabacan, Cotabato, at sa Ministry of Health-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, mas kilala bilang MoH-BARMM.

Si Sinolinding ang siya ring namamahala, bilang minister, ng MoH-BARMM.

Mismong si Mendoza, isa sa mga leaders ng etnikong Teduray community sa mga probinsya ng Maguindanao del Norte at Maguindanao del Sur, ang nanguna sa pamimigay ng school supplies sa mga kabataang mag-aaral sa Barangay Tamped, at ng bigas para sa kanilang mga pamilya.

Tumulong sina Barangay Chairman Saliling, si Old Kaabacan Mayor Tonicks Enalang at ang health workers ng kanilang local government unit sa pagsagawa ng public service activity nila Mendoza at Sinolinding sa Barangay Tamped, ayon sa ulat ng kawani ng kanilang mga tanggapan sa parliament sa BARMM regional capitol sa Cotabato City.

Suportado din ni BARMM Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua ang naturang outreach mission, ayon kina Sinolinding at Mendoza. []

COTABATO CITY (May 26, 2026) — Local executives in Region 12 are certain that their provinces would soon become “insurgency free” too like Davao Del Sur in Region 11.

Local officials, leaders of different sectors and residents celebrated on Monday, May 25, the fourth anniversary of Davao del Sur’s having been cleared from presence of the New People’s Army, jointly declared as insurgency free by the police and military units in the province four years ago.

Radio reports on Tuesday stated that Gov. Yvonne Cagas and Major Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, led Monday’s celebration of the fourth anniversary of Davao del Sur’s having been totally liberated from the presence of NPAs.

Luzon, in a message while at the event at the Davao del Sur provincial capitol in Digos City, lauded the office of Ms. Cagas and the mayors under her administration for their continuing cooperation in preventing the intrusion anywhere in the province of even remnants of the NPA, whose forces in Regions 11 and 12 have dramatically dwindled in recent years.

“We have to continue preserving the peace we now have in Davao del Sur,” Luzon then said.

Two governors in Region 12, Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza of Cotabato and Reynaldo Tamayo, Jr. of South Cotabato separately told reporters on Tuesday that they are confident that their provinces shall soon be tagged by the military too as totally free from communist insurgents.

“Besides the mayors, vice mayors and barangay officials, the local Muslim, Christian and indigenous communities in Cotabato province are also helping us achieve that goal,” Taliño-Mendoza, chairperson of the multi-sector Regional Development Council 12, said.

Local executives in Cotabato and South Cotabato, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and its component-battalions in both provinces have secured, via backchannel dialogues, the surrender of 627 NPAs from across both provinces in the past five years.

All of them were jointly reintroduced to mainstream society by the offices of Taliño-Mendoza and Tamayo, the municipal and city governments under their jurisdiction, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, the 6th ID and the Department of Social Welfare and Development 12 .

“With the unrelenting anti-insurgency campaign of the 6th Infantry Division and its units, our province will soon become totally free from communist insurgents,” Tamayo said.

Tamayo, who is chairperson of the Regional Peace and Order Council 12, said the clearing of South Cotabato from the presence of a few remaining NPA members is being done via humanitarian interventions by the 6 th ID, the Police Regional Office 12 and local executives in the province.

“We admire how the 10th Infantry Division and all local executives in Davao del Sur have done that in their province. We are inspired by their example, which we are emulating in our province,” Tamayo said.

Photo shows provincial officials, representatives from the police and military together leading Monday’s celebration of the fourth anniversary of Davao del Sur’s having been declared free from the presence of NPAs. []

COTABATO CITY (May 23, 2026) — Nagalak ang mga local executives at mga Moro datus sa bayan ng Tugunan sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area sa probinsya ng Cotabato sa pagkakatuli ng libre ng 239 na mga elementary pupils sa dalawang araw na “Oplan Tuli” sa naturang bayan ng public service team ng dalawang miyembro ng regional parliament ng autonomous region.

Mismong sina Tugunan Mayor Abdullah Abas at ang kanyang mga sakop na mga barangay officials ang nag-ulat nitong Sabado, May 23, na abot ng 239 na mga batang mula sa mga mahirap na mga pamilya sa kanilang bayan ang natuli ng public service team nila parliament member Kadil Sinolinding, Jr. at ng kanilang chief minister, si Abdulrauf Macacua, sa kanilang community outreach mission nitong Lunes, May 18, at Martes, May 19.

Katuwang ng mga tanggapan nila Sinolinding at Macacua sa naturang medical mission, sa Barangay Manaulanen sa Tugunan, ang mga medics mula sa Deseret Surgimed Hospital sa bayan ng Kabacan sa Cotabato, ang Ministry of Health-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at ang administrasyon ni Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza.

Ang Tugunan ay isa sa walong mga bagong tatag na mga Bangsamoro municipalities sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area na sakop ng BARMM government, ngunit nasa Cotabato province na nasa teritoryo ng Administrative Region 12.

Ayon kay Mayor Abas, malaking bagay ang pagkakatuli sa mga 239 na mga kabataang lalaki na ang mga magulang ay kumikita lang ng sapat, para sa araw-araw na pangangailangan ng kanilang mga pamilya, mula sa pagsasaka at pangingisda sa mga ilog at lawa na konektado sa hindi kalayuang Ligawasan Marsh na siyang pinaka-source ng mga freshwater fishes na binebenta sa mga palengke sa probinsya ng Cotabato.

Tumulong sa pagsagawa ng Oplan Tuli sa Tugunan ang tanggapan ni Mayor Abas at ang kanilang mga municipal health personnel.

Sa pinakahuling pinagsamang records ng mga local government units sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area, ng mga tanggapan nila Sinolinding at Macacua at ng MoH-BARMM, abot na ng 709 na mga batang lalaki na mula sa Muslim, Christian at non-Moro indigenous communities sa mga barangays na sakop nito ang naka-benepisyo sa Oplan Tuli mula ng magsimula ang summer break sa kanilang mga paaralan nitong huling bahagi ng April, o halos isang buwan na ang nakakalipas. []

COTABATO CITY (May 21, 2026) — Magpapatuloy sa kanyang serbisyo bilang health minister ng Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ang physician-ophthalmologist na si Kadil Sinolinding, Jr.

Ito batay sa panibagong designation sa kanya para sa naturang sensitibo at mataas na puwesto na nilagdaan ni BARMM Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua, may petsang April 15, 2026.

Nagalak ang maraming mga kakilala at kaibigan, kabilang ang mga residente ng Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area sa probinsya sa Cotabato sa panibagong written designation para kay Sinolinding, bilang minister ng Ministry of Health-BARMM, na-release nito lang Miyerkules, May 20, ng tanggapan ni Macacua na siyang lumagda sa naturang dokumento.

Kabilang sa mga agad na nagpahayag ng kagalakan sa pag-renew ng designation ni Sinolinding sa naturang puwesto sina Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman, Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr., Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay, Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao, Maguindanao del Norte Vice Gov. Marshall Sinsuat at si Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza ng probinsya ng Cotabato sa Region 12.

Ang Cotabato province na sakop ng Administrative Region 12 ay may walong mga bayan na naka-grupo bilang Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area na nasa ilalim ng regional government ng BARMM.

Nagpasalamat nitong Huwebes si Gov. Mendoza at ang walong mga mayors ng mga bayan sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area, kabilang sa kanila si Kapalawan Mayor Norman Inalang at Ligawasan Mayor Esmael Mama, sa muling pagtalaga ni Macacua kay Sinolinding bilang health minister ng Bangsamoro region.

Ganun din ang pahayag ng maraming mga kasama ni Sinolinding sa 80-seat regional parliament, kabilang ang spokesman ng naturang lawmaking body, ang kanyang kapwa parliament member na abogado, si Jet Lim, taga Tawi-Tawi, isa sa limang probinsyang sakop ng BARMM.

Si Sinolinding ay isang multi-awarded na eye specialist na nagpakadalubhasa sa India. Kabilang kanyang mga national at international awards ang paghirang sa kanya, mahigit dalawang dekada na ang nakalipas, bilang isa sa Ten Outstanding Young Men of the World sa Portugal sa Europe, bilang nominado para sa naturang parangal ng mga officials ng Jaycees International sa Mindanao at ng national leadership ng nito.

Makikita sa larawan si Sinolinding at ang capitol ng BARMM regional government sa Cotabato City. []

COTABATO CITY (May 17, 2026) — Officials of four large Bangsamoro regional political parties assured on Saturday, May 16, to help educate voters on the modalities of the September 14 first ever parliamentary elections in the autonomous region.

The Commission on Elections had permitted 16 partisan blocks to pit favored candidates for the 80-seats in the regional parliament.

Groups of registered voters and officials of cause-oriented organizations in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had earlier complained about the apparent lack of knowledge by barangay folks on the peculiarities of BARMM’s pioneering September 14 parliamentary elections compared to the synchronized local and national elections that are held every three years nationwide.

An incumbent member of the BARMM parliament, the lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, a ranking official of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, said on Saturday that they can readily embark on a massive information campaign to ensure ample comprehension by voters in far-flung areas in BARMM on how are they to exercise their right of suffrage during the September 14 regional polls.

“We don’t have a problem doing that,” said Sinarimbo, chairman of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party’s chapter in Cotabato City, the regional capital of BARMM.

Regional Labor and Employment Minister Muslim Sema, president of the Bangsamoro Party of the Moro National Liberation Front, said information officers of the Ministry of Labor and Employment-BARMM in the five provinces and three cities in the Bangsamoro region can work, along with public school teachers and media entities, in disseminating how voters are to supposed to legitimately cast votes during the September 14 parliamentary elections.

“We have to work hard for voters to become aware of the procedures pertaining to that electoral exercise, something first ever in the autonomous region,” said Sema, chairman of the central committee of the MNLF.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr., one of the figureheads of the Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo, and the founder of the Bangsamoro People’s Party, Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman, separately said on Saturday that partisan blocs also ought to encourage members and supporters to adhere to Islamic teachings on the sanctity of electoral exercises and respect for electoral mandates that candidates get from voters.

Supporters of three candidates for the 80-seat parliament, Zulfikar-Ali Bayam, Ishak Mastura and Bai Sandra Sema, all scions of noble ethnic Maguindanaon clans, were quoted in last Saturday’s radio reports as saying that they can even swear over the Qur’an to abide with the Omnibus Election Code in campaigning for each of them during the upcoming campaign season.

Bayam and Mastura are members of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party. Sema, a former Maguindanao congressional representative, is aspiring for a seat in the BARMM parliament under the banner of the MNLF’s Bangsamoro Party.

Sema, who was instrumental in the enactment into law by Congress of BARMM’s charter, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, has the support of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, according to Sinarimbo.

Leaders of the Bayam, Mastura and Sema clans in Maguindanao del Norte and in Cotabato City told reporters on Saturday that they shall never use Facebook, or other media platforms, to malign candidates contesting the candidacy of the three aspirants for seats in the 80-member regional lawmaking body.

Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City, told reporters that the commitments of leaders of different regional parties for a peaceful parliamentary electoral exercise augurs well with the efforts of the WestMinCom and the Army divisions under its control to help Comelec ensure safe and clean elections on September 14 in BARMM’s five provinces and three cities.

Photo shows the capitol in Cotabato City of the Bangsamoro regional government, now gearing up for the September 14, 2026 parliamentary polls in the five provinces and three cities under its jurisdiction. []

COTABATO CITY (May 14, 2026) — Abot ng 277 na mga residente ng Barangay Tacupan sa bayan ng Carmen sa Cotabato province, kabilang ang mga bata, mga senior citizens at mga buntis, ang nakabenepisyo sa isang outreach community health mission ng kanilang provincial government nitong Martes, May 12.

Sa ulat nitong Huwebes ng mga barangay officials at mga traditional leaders ng mga Christian, Muslim at non-Moro indigenous communities sa Tacupan, nagtulungan sa naturang public service activity ang tanggapan ni Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, ang provincial health office na sakop ng kanyang administrasyon at ang Integrated Provincial Health Office-Cotabato at ang local government unit ng Carmen.

Ang Carmen ay isa sa 17 na mga bayan na sakop ng probinsya ng Cotabato na ang kabisera ay Kidapawan City kung saan naroroon ang provincial capitol nito.

Mismong si Gov. Mendoza at mga doctors mula sa provincial health office at IPHO-Cotabato ang magkatuwang na nanguna sa community service event sa Tacupan, ayon sa mga municipal at barangay officials sa Carmen.

Ilang mga bata din na mula sa mga mahirap na mga pamilya sa Tacupan ang natuli ng libre sa naturang medical and dental outreach event, ayon sa mga barangay officials.

“Ang ganitong mga community health service engagements ng Cotabato provincial government ay kaugnay ng layuning matugunan ang mga medical at dental services needs ng mga residente ng probinsya,” pahayag ni Gov. Mendoza nitong Huwebes, kaugnay ng kanilang medical at dental services missions sa Barangay Tacupan nitong Martes.

Una ng pinasalamatan nitong Lunes ng kasalukuyang health minister ng Bangsamoro region, ang doctor na si Kadil Sinolinding, Jr., ang tanggapan ni Gov. Mendoza sa pagsuporta sa mga serye ng kanilang “Oplan Tuli” para sa mga batang mula sa mga mahirap na pamilya sa mga bagong tatag na mga Bangsamoro municipalities sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area na sakop na ng regional government ng autonomous region, ngunit nasa teritoryo ng Cotabato, isa sa apat na mga probinsya sa Administrative Region 12.

Sa tala ng mga kawani ng Deseret Surgimed Hospital sa Kabacan, Cotabato at ng tanggapan ng physician-ophthalmologist na si Sinolinding sa 80-seat parliament ng Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, abot na ng 603 na mga bata sa mga bayan ng Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area at mga barangay sa mga karatig na municipalities na sakop ng administrasyon ni Gov. Mendoza ang ang natuli ng libre, bilang mga benepisyaryo ng Oplan Tuli, mula ng magsimula ang summer vacation ng mga mag-aaral sa mga paaralan sa naturang mga lugar nitong nakalipas na buwan ng Abril.

Ayon kay Bangsamoro parliament member Sinolinding, na siya ring namamahala ng Ministry of Health-BARMM, bagamat hindi na sakop ng provincial government ng Cotabato ang mga barangays sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area, walang patid ang pag-alalay ni Gov. Mendoza sa mga health services ng Bangsamoro regional government sa naturang mga lugar na mismong ang regional health ministry at ang tanggapan ni Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua ang magkatuwang na nagpapatupad.

COTABATO CITY (May 7, 2026) — Almost all of the mayors in Basilan and Tawi-Tawi have joined the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, one of 16 partisan blocs now gearing up for the September 14 parliamentary elections in the autonomous region.

Radio reports on Wednesday, May 6, in the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan and Zamboanga and in the provinces in Central Mindanao stated that 10 of the 12 mayors in Maguindanao del Norte and five vice mayors in the province took oath as Bangsamoro Federalist Party members during a caucus in Davao City on Tuesday.

In Tawi-Tawi, 10 of the 11 Tausug and Sama mayors in the province also joined the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, sworn in by its senior official, Bangsamoro parliament member Tomanda Antok, an ethnic Maguindanaon, during a gathering in Bongao town, the provincial capital, last Monday.

Radio reports said nine municipal mayors in Basilan and the now second term chief executive of the vote-rich Lamitan City in the island province, Mayor Roderick Furigay, also converged in Zamboanga City last Friday and, in the presence of members of the 80-seat parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, pledged loyalty to the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, in the presence of their constituent-community leaders.

The Bangsamoro Federalist Party and the oldest, pioneer political party in BARMM, the Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo (SIAP) that has more than 500,000 documented members and supporters across the autonomous region’s five provinces and three cities, also have candidates for the region’s 80-seat parliament during the September 14 regional electoral exercise.

Candidates of another political bloc, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, filed their certificates of candidacy at the regional and provincial offices of the Commission on Elections in BARMM on Wednesday. The UBJP’s political figurehead is Ahod Ebrahim, chairman of the MILF’s central committee, who had served as an appointed BARMM chief minister from early 2019 to March 2025.

Hundreds of policemen, led by Col. Jibin Bongcayao, director of the Cotabato City Police Office, have been guarding since Tuesday the surroundings of the 32-hectare BARMM capitol compound in the city, where Comelec’s regional office is located, as part of the security measures meant to ensure a safe filing of COCs by candidates of different regional parties.

SIAP candidates for the parliamentary districts in Lanao del Sur were personally escorted by two ranking party officials, Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. and Vice Gov. Mohammad Adiong in their filing of certificates of candidacy on Tuesday at the Comelec’s office in Marawi City.

Adiong, who, as governor, is also chairperson of the Lanao del Sur multi-sector Provincial Peace and Order Council, told reporters then that SIAP had committed to extensively support the joint efforts of the Comelec, the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and military’s Western Mindanao Command, under Amy Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, to ensure peaceful and honest September 14 regional polls in all five provinces and three cities in BARMM.

“We also have a hardline policy against using social media, or any mainstream media outfit, to malign other parties, or candidates that are rivals of our party’s candidates,” Adiong said.

Mayors in 32 of the 39 towns in Lanao del Sur and in its capital, Marawi City, are members of SIAP, elected as its official candidates during last year’s May 12 local elections.

“We can even swear over a sacred Ouran that we in the Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo Party shall abide with the Omnibus Election Code during the Bangsamoro regional elections,” Adiong, now in his third and last term as Lanao del Sur governor, said.

Photo shows policemen guarding tightly the surroundings of the Bangsamoro capitol in Cotabato City, where the regional office of Comelec is located and where aspirants for seats in the parliament file their candidacy, a requisite for their bid for election as lawmakers.

COTABATO CITY (May 9, 2026) — Two more groups from the defunct Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters willingly surrendered to units of the Philippine Army in Maguindanao del Sur province within just three days, military and provincial officials announced on Saturday, May 9.

The first to yield were Alih Samat, Morad Ali, Guialudin Salipada, Tohami Maguid and Diya Dagadas, who pledged allegiance to the government on Monday during a symbolic rite at the headquarters of the 1st Mechanized Battalion in Barangay Midtimbang in Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Maguindanao del Sur.

Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Saturday that all five of them agreed to surrender and avail of the division’s regional reconciliation program for violent religious extremists through the joint efforts of the commanding officer of the 1st Mechanized Battalion, Lt. Col. William Sabado, Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, local executives and traditional Moro datus.

The five Dawlah Islamiya members first turned over to Sabado and his subordinate-officers a .30 caliber M1 Garand rifle, a .50 caliber long-range bolt-action Barrett sniper rifle, two 9 millimeter submachineguns and an M79 launcher for 40 millimeter grenade projectiles before they promised to reform for good during a surrender rite together officiated by Catu and Sabado at the headquarters of the 1st Mechanized Battalion in Barangay Midtimbang.

The event was witnessed by municipal officials and representatives from the Bangsamoro regional government and peace-advocacy entities supporting the 6th ID’s peacebuilding programs in Central Mindanao.

Local executives in different towns in Maguindanao del Sur, one of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, relayed to reporters on Saturday that seven combined members of the now both nonfunctional Dawlah Islamiya and BIFF, four of them experts in fabrication of improvised explosive devices, also pledged allegiance to the government in a separate event on Thursday.

The seven terrorists have vowed to help convince their few remaining companions to surrender after they renounced their membership with the Dawlah Islamiya and the BIFF at the headquarters of the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Kabengi in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, in the presence of local executives.

Cagara said the commanding officer of the 90th IB, Lt. Col. Loqui Marco, and his immediate-superior, Catu, who has jurisdiction over Army units in Maguindanao del Sur, local executives, and the police director in the province, Col. Michael Mangahis, cooperated in securing the surrender of the seven terrorists via backchannel dialogues.

The surrender ceremony was preceded by the group’s turnover to Marco and Catu of four sniper rifles, two 81millimeter mortars, an M1 Garand rifle and other combat weapons and components for IEDs, including six kilos of ammonium nitrate and potassium chlorate that can be used as blasting charges for home-made bombs that can be detonated from a distance using mobile phones.

Four of the seven terrorists who yielded to the 90th IB, Samaon Kadir, Moksim Anais, Amerodin Bantas and Samaradun Aslih, can assemble IEDs packed with nails and metal fragments with jagged edges.

The seven Dawlah Islamiya and BIFF members yielded to officials of the 90th IB and to Catu after they assured them of reintegration to mainstream society with the help of agencies of the Bangsamoro government and the local government units in Maguindanao del Sur

“We shall usher back to their barangays all of these former terrorists for them to be reunited with their families,” Cagara said.

Photo shows Army officials and local executives inspecting the weapons turned in by the seven local terrorists who surrendered to the 90th Infantry Battalion on Thursday, May 7.

KAPALAWAN, Cotabato Province (May 1, 2026) — Karagdagang 497 pa na mga batang lalaki mula sa mga mahirap na Moro at non-Moro indigenous families ang natuli ng libre sa relief missions sa tatlong mga barangays sa Kapalawan sa Cotabato sa pagtutulungan ng dalawang mga miyembro ng Bangsamoro regional parliament at ng gobernadora ng probinsya.

Magkasunod na isinagawa, mula April 28 hanggang April 30, sa Barangays Kibayao, Manarapan at Tupig sa Kapalawan ng field public service team ng tanggapan ni Member of Parliament Kadil Sinolinding, Jr., ng community affairs group ng Deseret Surgimed Hospital sa Kabacan, Cotabato at ng mga volunteers ng mga cause-oriented groups ang naturang humanitarian mission kung saan about ng 497 na mga batang lalaki ang kanilang natuli ng libre.

Naisagawa ng naturang “Oplan Tuli” sa tulong ng Ministry of Health-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, ni Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua at ni Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza.

Ayon sa mga kawani ng tanggapan ni Sinolinding sa BARMM parliament sa regional capitol sa Cotabato City, malaki ang ambag ni Chief Minister Macacua at ni Gov. Taliño-Mendoza sa naturang matagumpay na relief mission sa Kapalawan, isa sa walong mga bagong tatag na municipalities sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area, sakop ng autonomous regional government, ngunit nasa Cotabato province na nasa teritoryo ng Region 12.

Bagamat hindi na saklaw ng kanyang administrasyon ang naturang walong mga bayan, tuloy-tuloy ang kooperasyon nila Gov. Taliño-Mendoza na siya ring chairperson ng Regional Development Council 12, ni Sinolinding at Chief Minister Macacua sa pagse-serbisyo publiko sa mga residente ng mga barangay sa naturang mga lugar. Si Sinolinding, isang physician-ophthalmologist, ang siya ring kasalukuyang health minister ng BARMM.

Si Gov. Taliño-Mendoza ay kilalang hindi anti-Moro na governor at masigasig na tumutulong sa pagpapalaganap, pagpapalawig ng peace process ng Malacañang at ng Moro National Liberation Front at ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front na may hiwalay na peace agreements sa pamahalaan at parehong may mga representatives sa 80-seat BARMM parliament na pinamumunuan ni Chief Minister Macacua.

Sa tala ng mga nagtulungan sa pagsagawa ng tatlong araw na relief service sa Kapalawan, about ng 497 na mga batang mga Moro ang kanilang natuli. May 235 pa na mga residente ng Barangays Kibayao, Manarapan at Tupig sa naturang bayan na may mga problema sa mata, katulad ng cataract at pterygium, ang kanilang nasuri ng libre at ilan sa kanila ay nakatakda ng gamutin mismo ng eye surgeon na si Sinolinding.

Abot ng 267 na mga bata mula sa mga bayan ng Kabacan at Carmen at Kidapawan City, lahat sakop Cotabato, at ilang mga barangays sa Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area sa probinsya ang natuli ng libre sa mga serye ng Oplan Tuli, dalawang linggo pa lang ang nakakalipas, ng public service team ni Sinolinding, ng mga kawani ng Deseret Surgimed Hospital at ng MoH-BARMM na magkatuwang na sinuportahan nila Gov. Taliño-Mendoza at ni Chief Minister Macacua. []

TAMPAKAN, SOUTH COTABATO (May 1, 2026) — Para sa maraming mag-aaral sa malalayong komunidad, nananatiling isang malayong pangarap ang pagtatapos sa kolehiyo dahil sa kakulangan sa pinansyal na kakayahan.

Ngunit para kay Bon Ryan Jimenez, ang pangarap na ito ay unti-unti nang naaabot, hinubog ng determinasyon at sinuportahan ng tulong pang-edukasyon na nagbigay sa kanya ng pagkakataong makapagpatuloy sa pag-aaral sa kabila ng mga hamon.

Isang residente ng Tablu, Tampakan, si Bon ay kabilang sa mga benepisyaryo ng Educational Assistance Program ng Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), isang inisyatiba na naglalayong tulungan ang mga kapos-palad ngunit karapat-dapat na mag-aaral na maipagpatuloy ang kanilang pag-aaral at makabuo ng mas magandang kinabukasan para sa kanilang sarili at pamilya.

“Sukad sa nahimo kong benepisyaryo sa SMI educational assistance hangtod karon nga hapit na ko makahuman, dako kaayo akong pasalamat kay nahimo silang dakong kabahin sa pagtuman sa akong pangandoy,” ani Bon.

Isa na siyang graduating student sa Southeastern Institute of Technology, kumukuha ng Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.

Si Bon ay patunay kung paano nababago ng edukasyon ang buhay ng isang tao. Mula sa simpleng pamumuhay, ibinahagi niya na malaki ang naitulong ng programa upang mapagaan ang gastusin ng kanyang pamilya.

“Dako kayo ang tabang sa akoa, kay maka-less gastos ang akong parents sa pangbaon, pamasahe, ug usahay sa mga gastusin sa eskwelahan sama sa projects,” dagdag niya.

Ang Educational Assistance Program ng SMI ay nagbibigay ng tulong pinansyal sa mga mag-aaral mula sa host at karatig na komunidad, kabilang ang iba’t ibang gastusin sa paaralan. Higit pa sa pinansyal na suporta, layunin ng programa na bigyang-lakas ang kabataan upang makapagtapos ng pag-aaral at makamit ang makabuluhang karera.

Para kay Bon, isang malaking pribilehiyo ang maging bahagi ng programang ito. Binigyang-diin niya ang kahalagahan ng pagsisikap at pagpapahalaga sa pagkakataong ibinigay sa kanya.

“Dapat naa gyud tay goal, paningkamotan ang pag-eskwela ug dili sayangon ang chansa nga gihatag sa atoa, kay dili tanan nabahinan ani nga oportunidad,” ani niya.

Habang naghahanda sa kanyang pagtatapos, hindi lamang pansariling tagumpay ang kanyang layunin kundi maging inspirasyon sa iba sa kanyang komunidad. Hinihikayat niya ang kapwa benepisyaryo na maging bukas ang isipan at suportahan ang mga programang nakatutulong sa pag-unlad.

“Dili ta magpabiling one-sided sa mga isyu labi na bahin sa mina. Hunahunaon nato nga ang SMI dako na gyud ug natabang, ug mas daghan pa gyud sila matabang sa future. Mao nga suportahan nato sila,” ani Bon.

Ipinapakita ng kuwentong ito ang mas malawak na epekto ng mga programang pang-edukasyon sa mga liblib na lugar, kung saan ang bawat iskolar ay hindi lamang sumisimbolo ng personal na tagumpay kundi pag-asa para sa buong pamilya.

Sa patuloy na pagpapalawak ng mga programang pangkaunlaran ng Sagittarius Mines, Inc., nananatiling mahalagang pundasyon ang edukasyon sa paghubog ng mga susunod na propesyonal na tulad ni Bon, na handang magbigay pabalik at mag-ambag sa pag-angat ng kanilang komunidad.

Para kay Bon, hindi naging madali ang kanyang paglalakbay, ngunit sa tulong ng tiyaga at suporta, isa na siyang hakbang palapit sa katuparan ng kanyang mga pangarap, dala ang pag-asa ng kanyang pamilya at pangakong mas maliwanag na kinabukasan. (APRIL 30, 2026)