Subsequent to the conduct of the consultation with community and sectoral leaders in mainland Mindanao, the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) conducted the Community Visioning Exercises in island provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi last March 20 and 23, 2014 respectively.

“Our journey in the island provinces primarily aims to conduct a community visioning from which results will also serve as an input for the crafting of the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP). The workshops in the activity necessitate everyone to bring out bright ideas as part of discussions, then form as the needed data or information for the realization of development planning,” said James Macaraya, BDA Board of Director and member of BDP Advisory Council, in his opening statement in Tawi-Tawi. Other members of BDA Board of Directors in the BDP Advisory Council, Ustadz Abusaliha Macacuna, and Hadji Hashim Casinto also led the group.

Representing different sectors, 63 participants in Sulu and 96 in Tawi-Tawi expressed their vision for the Bangsamoro, problems and dissatisfactions of their community, priority needs and corresponding responses to address such issues and concerns. Answers to these workshop questions were reflected through group discussions and plenary presentations. Afterwards, three BDP focal persons: Abduljalil Umngan on Environment and Natural Resources, Ismael Kulat on Peacebuilding and Zarah Kathleen Alih on Gender and Youth Development, took part in further processing and deepening of inputs conveyed by the participants.

In his remarks in Sulu, Ustadz Macacuna related to the participants, “This activity is very historic because you in the community filled inputs to the Bangsamoro Development Plan.”

In response, Hadji Nurl Tingkasan, Sulu Provincial Director of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) Radio/Information Committee, said “We thank the Bangsamoro Development Agency for reaching us using the bottom-up approach in planning. We believe that this is form of consultation to us and we hope that in the future we will be able to see the fruits of the planning we have conducted.”

Assemblyman Sulay H. Halipa, representing the lone district of Tawi-Tawi in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Regional Legislative Assembly (ARMM-RLA), said that the ARMM government is very willing to help the Bangsamoro during the Transition Phase. At present, projects are still pursued and implemented by the regional government regardless of the turnover of the seat on 2015. “Our commitment in the ARMM is not just for anybody but for the people.” he added.

In the same way, Hadji Hashim Casinto, BDA Board of Director added that “We are crafting a plan not for the MILF. We are crafting a plan not for the BDA. But we are crafting a development plan for the Bangsamoro people in general.”

The Community Visioning Exercise is one of the methodologies in crafting the Bangsamoro Development Plan conducted in the Bangsamoro core territories including the adjacent areas outside the Bangsamoro core territories. The over-all goal of the activity is to define, from the community lens, the kind of society the Bangsamoro people would like to pursue in the future as an expression of their right to self-determination.

Series of community visioning activity was conducted beforehand in the following BDA regional clusters: Central Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Davao region, Ranaw region, Zamboanga Peninsula region and Zamboanga-Basilan (ZamBas) region. The conduct of the activity in the provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi served as the conclusion of the Community Visioning Exercises.

Common visions for Sulu and Tawi-Tawi as relayed are peace and security, establishment of Shari’ah law, good governance and economic sustainability.

Some of the most serious problems raised include high poverty rate, security issues, poor and health services. Sources of dissatisfaction also include the lack of livelihood, poor implementation and enforcement of laws and environmental destruction, discrimination.