Ex-assemblyman, realty broker named new Bangsamoro execs

COTABATO CITY – Two more members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government of the newly created autonomous region, have taken their oath and assumed office.

Ziaurrahman Alonto Adiong and Diamila Disimban-Ramos, both Maranaos, have been named as new members of the BTA, which was organized in February this year following the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) last January.

Under the BOL, the BTA, and the eventual Bangsamoro parliament, shall be composed of 80 members.

The new appointments bring to 77 the total BTA members.

Adiong and Disimban-Ramos were appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Aug. 13.

Before his appointment as BTA member, Adiong served as assemblyman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), representing Lanao del Sur’s first legislative district. During the Marawi siege in  2017, he stood as spokesperson of the provincial crisis management committee.

He is the brother of Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr., the current governor of Lanao del Sur.

Disimban-Ramos, from Malungun, Taraka, Lanao del Sur and Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao, is a real estate broker and appraiser.

She is executive vice president of the Manila Board of Realtors and previously worked in the ARMM’s Cooperative Development Authority and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, National Youth Commission, and Department of Foreign Affairs.

She is an advocate for peace, women’s rights, youth development, halal and tourism promotion, and cooperative development.

“This is a challenging time for all of us, for the Bangsamoro,” Zia said in a social media post./tsb