BARMM staff in Basilan undergo mandatory civil service onboarding

LAMITAN CITY, BASILAN — Over 40 personnel from Bangsamoro provincial government offices in Basilan completed a three-day mandatory onboarding program focused on civil service standards, administrative competencies, and Moral Governance, the official governance framework of the Bangsamoro Government.

The training ran from September 22 to 24 and was conducted by the Development Academy of the Bangsamoro (DAB).

Under Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 17, or the Bangsamoro Civil Service Code, every regional ministry, agency, and office must partner with the DAB to run systematic onboarding for newly hired personnel.

Norhaina Ugokan, chief of the DAB Center for Training and Assessment, confirmed the law makes the training compulsory for new employees.

"While many participants are not new, BARMM remains a relatively new government entity, even after our post-election transition," she said.

Beyond professional skills, Ugokan said, the program seeks to shape the values of those who serve the region.

"Serving BARMM includes a spiritual aspect: our work is an amanah — a trust," she said. "If we fail, we answer not just to the government, but to Allah."

At the core of the training was the Moral Governance Orientation, which connects duties of public office to the sacrifices of the Bangsamoro struggle.

Alsoud Pajiji of the Ministry of Labor and Employment said the Bangsamoro Situationer session was the most meaningful for him. Tracing resistance from Spanish and American colonial periods to the present, he said, gave him a clearer sense of why his work matters.

"Honoring the past motivated me to be a good example as a public servant, especially now that the transition is ending and BARMM is moving toward regular government," Pajiji said. "Let us take care of their legacy because we are accountable, especially in the eyes of Allah."

He added that such integration of faith into workplace values is seldom part of regular government training.

Participants also underwent administrative skills sessions common to all positions, aimed at improving coordination among offices in performing their mandates.

(With reports from the Bangsamoro Information Office)