Bangsamoro execs deny allegations of financial anomalies
COTABATO CITY—Top executives of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) and Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have strongly denied allegations of anomalous transactions in their respective offices totaling P2.5 billion.
Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal said the reports of anomalies in the MBHTE’s procurement transactions that have circulated on social media were baseless.
He said the supplies purchased by the ministry, including the learners’ and teachers’ kits, underwent “strict internal and external controls, in full compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations” and “pertinent issuances from the Commission on Audit (COA).”
Claiming to be MBHTE insiders, a group of unnamed individuals alleged that the agency’s procurement process was rigged to favor the relatives of certain high-ranking officials and asked the Office of the President and the COA to investigate. Capping the allegations was the supposed disbursement of P1.7 billion within just a day without proper review. It was allegedly made to pay for instructional kits purchased by the MBHTE.
Iqbal, who is also vice chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said the claims about the P1.7 billion disbursement were “grossly misleading and overlooked the layered controls within our financial systems.”
“Nonetheless, we take the allegation seriously,” he said, adding that an internal fact-finding investigation to verify the claims has been initiated.
“We will not hesitate to hold individuals accountable, regardless of rank or affiliation, should wrongdoing be established,” Iqbal emphasized.
Over a year ago, the MBHTE was rocked with accusations about teaching positions being offered to the highest bidders, prompting Iqbal to order a probe.
Not a dummy firm
At the MILG, Minister Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba denied any anomalies pertaining to the purchase of P680 million worth of rice supply for the stockpile of emergency relief goods of BARMM’s Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence.
She denied claims that JB Pharma and Trade Center, which won the supply bid, was a “dummy” firm of her husband, Salihwardi Alba. She said the company, whose owner she did not personally know, had complied with technical specifications and other documents necessary to pass the bidding.
The Inquirer learned that JB Pharma and Trade Center holds a general merchandise business license.
“As a lawyer and former Bangsamoro Attorney General, I have thoroughly studied and upheld the existing procurement laws—Republic Act No. 9184 and Republic Act No. 12009—which serve as the foundation for MILG’s procurement procedures,” Dumama-Alba said in a news conference last Wednesday.
Alba also clarified that the ministry used emergency funds in 2024 for the procurement of rice, which was allowed during the state of calamity.
The ministry’s emergency purchase of rice, coffee and canned goods during Tropical Storm Kristine last year was also based on the recommendation of the Bids and Awards Committee, she explained.
