The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) seat of government is located in Cotabato City. (Fil photo by BONG SARMIENTO / Inquirer Mindanao)
DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — A P15.5-million public market is now being built along the coastal town of Sultan Mastura in the newly created Maguindanao del Norte province, one of the public market projects expected to generate economic activities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, the interior and local government minister of the Bangsamoro, said they have been targeting to put up at least one public market for each town to generate trading and business activities among small and medium businesses in the region and drum up the economy. He said this was one of the region’s strategy to generate jobs for locals instead of just relying on outside investors.
The public market project in Sultan Mastura, which broke ground on April 15, would be the first public market in the area.
It is being managed by the Bangsamoro Ministry of Interior and Local Government as part of the 2021 Support to Local Moral Governance program funded by the Office of the Chief Minister.
“This would help the local government units generate income, improve its revenue stream and possibly improve its income classification,” Sinarimbo said.
Other public markets under construction in the region include the P25-million public market in the town of Luuk in Sulu province that broke ground last March 19.
Sinarimbo said the market would include modern amenities and spaces to accommodate new and existing vendors and would be completed in four to five months since the start of construction.
The public market in Pagalungan town of Maguindanao del Sur is also about to be completed and would be inaugurated next month. Also nearing completion were the public markets in Barira, Maguindanao del Norte; Panglima Estino, Sulu; Indanan, Sulu; Lantawan, Basilan province; and in Datu Salibu, Maguindanao del Sur.
Also currently being built are the public markets in the towns of Carmen and Midsayap in Cotabato province, which are Special Geographic Areas of the Bangsamoro region; and in Barangay Gambar, Kabuntalan, Maguindanao del Norte.