Has BARMM’s interim government done its job?

Then-ARMM executive secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said back in 2011 during a roundtable discussion that those issues mainly revolved around the ARMM government’s weak autonomy, socioeconomic underdevelopment, and persistent conflict.

Fifteen years later, Sinarimbo — now a member of parliament at the BTA — told Rappler that, above all, the former ARMM felt like an “alien government,” especially since the region’s major policies and budget were mostly decided at the national level.

Naguib Sinarimbo, parliament member of the BTA, speaks to Rappler during an interview on May 11.

He believes that the BARMM has changed that. Their annual budget is automatically released now, so they no longer have to defend a budget that is not of their making. The parliamentary system considers the diverse Bangsamoro population in a way that the ARMM’s presidential system did not.

But does that mean the BTA has completed all reforms needed to prevent mistakes of the past?