Creation of first ever Tawi-Tawi maritime school mulled

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June 18, 2026 | 8:22pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Various sectors, including the business community in Tawi-Tawi are wishing for the speedy enactment into a regional law by the Bangsamoro parliament of the proposed enabling measure for the setting up of a maritime school in the province.

Bangsamoro parliament member Jet Lim, Tawi-Tawi’s representative to the 80-seat regional parliament, authored the proposal, subject to approval by the region's lawmaking body.

The intricacies of the proposed law were tackled by members of the parliament during an initial committee-level session last week, according to radio reports on Wednesday.

The proposed measure, co-authored by a Tausug parliament member, the lawyer Nabil Tan, also requires the allocation by the regional government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao of at least P190 million for the establishment of the maritime school in one of the island towns in Tawi-Tawi.

Tawi-Tawi Gov. Ysmael Sali, whose administration has extensive programs complementing BARMM’s education thrusts, said on Thursday that he and his constituent-mayors are supporting the efforts of Lim in seeking parliamentary imprimatur for the creation of a maritime school in their province.

Sali said residents of Tawi-Tawi wishing to study maritime courses have to relocate to the faraway Zamboanga City and to other areas in mainland Mindanao where there are maritime schools that their province does not have.

Sali, now a second-term governor, said not all parents in Tawi-Tawi, who have children wanting to pursue a maritime degree, can afford the cost of schooling in far cities and provinces   

“I’m confident that my fellow regional lawmakers and our chief minister will give a collective imprimatur for my proposal to create a maritime school in our province," Lim, a lawyer by profession, also spokesperson of the 80-member parliament, said. 

Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua, figurehead of the regional parliament, said he has no opposition to Lim's proposal.

Among the parliament members who had expressed support for Lim’s proposed enabling measure for the creation of a maritime school that the BARMM education ministry shall manage are the lawyers Naguib Sinarimbo and Ishak Mastura and the physician-ophthalmologist Kadil Sinolinding Jr., all Maguindanaons.

“There is an urgent need to establish that proposed maritime school in Tawi-Tawi,” Sinolinding, also serving as regional health minister, said.

Tawi-Tawi is one of the provinces in BARMM, which also has three cities, Lamitan in Basilan, Marawi in Lanao del Sur and Cotabato City, where the region’s capitol is located.