COTABATO CITY: Eight municipal mayors, vice mayors, and council members of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Special Geographic Area (SGA) took their oath before BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim over the weekend. In a statement Monday, the Bangsamoro Information Office said the local officials of the newest town officials took their oath during ceremonies held Saturday at Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex in this city. 'The ceremony signals a new dawn of leadership and hope deeply rooted in our advocacy of moral governance and our aspiration for an empowered, cohesive, and progressive Bangsamoro,' Ebrahim said. Lawyer Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba, BARMM interior minister, told reporters that the newly-created municipalities still needed inclusion to the National Tax Allocation (NTA) of the national government. 'We are coordinating with the national government through the Department of Budget and Management for their NTA,' she said, adding that in the meantime, the regional go vernment has allocated funds for their operation. SGA is a predominantly Muslim-dominated expanse that opted to join the expanded autonomy during the 2019 plebiscite. The villages are grouped into eight towns: Pahamuddin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Tugunan, Malidegao, Ligawasan, Old Kabakan, and Kapalawan. These were carved out from the municipalities of Carmen, Kabacan, Pikit, Midsayap, Aleosan, and Pigcawayan in North Cotabato province. Mohd Asnin Pendatun, speaking for BARMM, said the regional government is lobbying the country's legislators to pass a bill to create a new BARMM province composed of eight new municipalities. Source: Philippines News agency