President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has moved Sulu to Region IX, or Zamboanga Peninsula after the Supreme Court (SC) declared that the province is not a part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order 91, directing all national government agencies to include Sulu under Region IX for regional administration, development planning, investment programming and budgeting, and other relevant purposes.

The president said there was an ”urgent need to effectively implement and address the impacts” of the SC ruling, ”including the regional affiliation of the Province of Sulu, while continuing to ensure the uninterrupted governmental operations and delivery of essential government projects, programs, and activities within Sulu.”

Marcos Jr. also established a technical working group (TWG) headed by the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management.

The TWG’s functions are to oversee and monitor the implementation of the SC decision, prepare and release a transition plan, address any issues or concerns arising from the SC ruling, request assistance from relevant agencies in implementing the EO, and submit an annual report to the Office of the President.

Bangsamoro Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua called for ”calm, unity, and understanding as we navigate this new chapter.”

BARMM will continue to find ways to extend services and assistance to Sulu, Macacua said, even as he found the development ”deeply emotional for many of us in the Bangsamoro region.”

“We have and will continue working closely with the national government and the concerned agencies to facilitate a smooth, orderly, and respectful transition that does not disrupt essential public services. Education, healthcare, social assistance, and all other government support must continue without interruption for the people of Sulu,” Macacua said.

Last September, the SC upheld the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), but it also declared that Sulu should not have been included in the BARMM.

Sulu rejected the ratification of the BOL during the plebiscite in 2019.

“Our doors will never close,” Macacua said. ”The ties of history, culture, and kinship between Sulu and the rest of the Bangsamoro remain strong.”