COTABATO CITY – The Social Development Committee (SDCom) convened its fourteen (14) committee members to conduct its first regular meeting for the year 2023 held Friday, March 17 at BPDA Conference Hall 1, Bangsamoro Government Center, this city.
Said meeting was presided by Atty. Raissa H. Jajurie, Committee Chairperson and Minister of the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), together with BPDA’s Social Planning Division (SPD) Chief Palawan Mamaon, who represented Director General Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali, committee co-chairperson and head of the technical secretariat.
Noron S. Andan, Executive Director of the Office for Other Bangsamoro Communities (OOBC), discussed the mandates and functions of their office which seeks to become an additional member of the said committee.
Arceli B. Naraga, Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development of the Mindanao State University (MSU-Maguindanao), also expressed their concern of becoming a member of the SDCom and further presented the 2024 proposed infrastructure projects of the said university. The MSU seeks for the committee’s approval and endorsement to the Bangsamoro Economic and Development Council (BEDC) and the latter’s endorsement of these projects to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for its budget.
On the other hand, the request for membership of the State Colleges and Universities (SCUs) is pending. The committee decided to explore other arrangements as the total number of SUCs in the region at present is 57.
Moreover, a resolution approving and endorsing the creation of the Bangsamoro Population and Development Sub-Committee was presented to the committee by Fariha Nooh, Planning Officer I and Population and Development Focal from the Bangsamoro Population and Development Office (BPDO) with support from Maria Fe G. Esmundo, Planning Officer V of the Population Commission XII. Based on the presentation of the said resolution, the committee agreed to thoroughly discuss its implications and provisions in the next committee meeting. (𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝐿𝑎𝑜-𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑎 𝐴𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑒 𝑀. 𝐴𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑜, 𝐵𝑃𝐷𝐴-𝐵𝐴𝑅𝑀𝑀)