BARMM to cover basic education personnel salaries in Sulu

THE Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) pledged to fund salaries of basic education personnel in Sulu this year, despite the Supreme Court’s decision to take the province out of the autonomous region.

“A major outcome of the meeting was the firm agreement to safeguard the education sector in Sulu during the transition period,” the government said in a statement on Feb. 9.

This came after the Technical Working Group on the Sulu Transition convened on Feb. 4 to finalize key administrative and funding arrangements.

The joint statement was issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government, and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order No. 91 to move Sulu to the Zamboanga Peninsula after the High Court ruled in 2024 that the province is not part of the BARMM.

“Our shared responsibility is to make sure that no teacher misses a salary, no learner is left behind, and no family feels uncertain about the services they rely on,” Acting DBM Secretary Rolando U. Toledo said.

The Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education, along with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education, is set to issue a joint memorandum clarifying the shared supervision of schools in Sulu. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante