Members of the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament has elected a new speaker who replaces Pangalian Balindong, who died earlier this month.
Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua yesterday confirmed that Mohammad Yacob was elected speaker of the autonomous region on Tuesday.
Yacob studied Sharia jurisprudence at the International Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia. He also obtained a master’s degree in public administration at the Cotabato City State University.
Macacua and Yacob are senior officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose 2012 and 2014 peace agreements with the government led to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The parliament, which includes members of the Moro National Liberation Front, committed to support Yacob’s peace and development agenda.