COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Parliament has approved the Salamat Excellence Award for Leadership (SEAL) Program in today’s session, following the issuance of a certificate of urgency by Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua.
Parliament Bill No. 355 will honor and recognize notable Bangsamoro leaders who are excellent in the domains of accountability, participatory, and service-oriented leadership.
The SEAL Program, the highest leadership award being implemented by the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) since 2021, was named after Salamat Hashim, the revolutionary Moro leader who founded the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Member of the Parliament Naguib Sinarimbo, who authored the measure, explained that the current SEAL program receives funding on an annual basis. But with its passage, Sinarimbo said, there will be no need to request funding from the Parliament every year.
“The program will be institutionalized and established as a regional initiative of the Bangsamoro Government,” said Sinarimbo.
Under the bill, a SEAL Endowment Fund with a seed capital of P500 million will be established and managed by the Bangsamoro Treasury Office which will be invested in Shari’a-compliant investment products, aligning with the Islamic financing principles, whether local or foreign.
The earnings or profits generated from the endowment fund will be used to support the program and will be created in a separate account called the Special SEAL Fund.
“You will no longer need the annual appropriations for this program because it will have a self-sustaining mechanism through the endowment fund,” added Sinarimbo.
Sinarimbo said that the bill wants to acknowledge, find, and document leaders in the Bangsamoro region that show exemplary leadership.
Nominees will undergo a stringent three-level assessment process, and the individual garnering the highest rating will be selected as the SEAL awardee.
A SEAL medallion worth P500 thousand and a P20 million grant will be conferred to the local government unit, organization, or institution represented by the awardee.
The financial incentives will only be released to the honoree upon certification from the authorities.
The measure also mandates the MILG to engage with accredited academic institutions in the region to promote the program’s integrity and advancement.
The bill requires the integration of the documented information, case studies, and leadership models derived from SEAL Awardees into the Public Administration curricula in higher education institutions (HEIs) across the region, subject to Commission on Higher Education (CHED) guidelines. (LTAIS-Public Information, Publication, and Media Relations Division)
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