Groundbreaking held for new Bangsamoro Parliament building

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) on October 5 broke ground for a new 10-story Parliament building inside the Bangsamoro Government Center here, as the region prepares to seat its first elected legislature.

BTA Parliament Speaker Mohammad Yacob led the ceremony, joined by other officials of the Parliament.

The new building will rise on the site of the existing Parliament building, which will be demolished to give way to construction.

Khalid Ma-amor Hadji Abdullah, chair of the Committee on Accounts, said the first phase of the project has an allocation of P800 million, with construction targeted for completion within three years.

The project seeks to address the long-standing lack of working space for the Bangsamoro legislature.

According to the Parliament's information office, only a limited number of Members of Parliament (MPs) currently hold offices in the existing building, while others rent office space outside the government center.

Once completed, the building will house the offices of MPs, the plenary hall, committee hearing and meeting rooms, and spaces for other parliamentary functions.

The BTA, created under the Bangsamoro Organic Law that enshrined the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, has served as the interim Bangsamoro Parliament since 2019, enacting the laws and institutions needed to establish the autonomous government.

Newly elected MPs will assume office as the first regular Bangsamoro Parliament on October 30.