The Institute for Autonomy & Governance (IAG), through its DELACSE Bangsamoro project, will be bringing together some members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), key officials from national government agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs), and policy think-tanks at a forum this Wednesday, July 19, in Makati City to discuss the key issues confronting the successful transition to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

 

The event will have a series of panel discussions that will touch on critical issues relating to BARMM’s intergovernmental relations (IGR), public financial management, and electoral system to be put in place during and beyond the transition. With the theme “Strengthening Civil Society’s Participation in the Bangsamoro”, the event will serve as opportunity for some 20 CSOs coming from all over the Bangsamoro to exchange ideas with and raise concerns before BTA officials, national government, and Manila-based CSOs doing relevant development work in Mindanao.

 

To sit as resource persons in the 3 panel discussions are Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Spokesperson Dir. James Jimenez, Department of Interior & Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, BTA Majority Floor Leader Atty. Lanang Ali, Jr., BTA Members of Parliament (MPs) Atty. Laisa Alamia and Atty. Jose Lorena, political analyst Prof. Ramon Casiple, among others.

 

The one and a half-day event will be held at AIM Conference Center Manila in Makati City starting Wednesday afternoon (June 19) and will last until Thursday evening. Invited participants will include national government & BTA officials, former ARMM officials, civil society leaders, academe, and heads of policy think-tanks.

 

The discussions are designed in such a way that national government, BTA, civil society, and policy experts will weigh in on the issues & challenges as well as entry points for civil society engagement on key issues such as IGR, public finance and absorptive capacity, electoral system, parliamentary re-districting, and political parties in the Bangsamoro. This event will also be held subsequently in Cagayan de Oro City and in Zamboanga City in July.

 

DELACSE Bangsamoro, now on its second phase, is a 24-month project funded by the European Union. The project is implemented by the Cotabato City-based IAG in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Philippines and Davao City-based Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID).

 

The project currently has a growing network of 91 CSOs and political movements coming from all over the Bangsamoro region. Its activities are mostly on capacity-building of organizations, research, stakeholder dialogue, and strengthening advocacy campaigns in order to empower civil society in its engagement in the changing political landscape in the region.

 

For media outfits who wish to attend the forum, kindly coordinate with Aubrey Bahala through 0917-712-5453 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow us on Twitter (@delacse and @IAGorgph)