Tawi-Tawi leaders are pushing for the provinceโs first maritime school, aiming to give aspiring seafarers access to education closer to home. (Photo: John Unson)
COTABATO CITY, Philippines โ Many aspiring seafarers in the islands of Tawi-Tawi, where the sea shapes both geography and livelihood, face a painful choice: leave their families and travel hundreds of miles to pursue maritime studies, or abandon their dreams altogether.
That reality has fueled growing support for a proposal in the Bangsamoro Parliament to establish the provinceโs first maritime school. The initiative, local officials say, could transform access to higher education and create new opportunities in one of the countryโs most remote regions.
Bangsamoro Parliament Member Jet Lim, Tawi-Tawiโs representative to the 80-member legislature, authored the measure, which recently underwent its first committee-level deliberations. The proposal, co-authored by Parliament Member Nabil Tan, would allocate at least 190 million pesos for the establishment of a maritime institution in one of Tawi-Tawiโs island municipalities.
Over the years, students from the province who wanted to become seafarers had little choice but to move to Zamboanga City or other parts of mainland Mindanao where maritime schools already exist. โNot all parents can afford to send their children to distant cities,โ said Gov. Ysmael Sali, who voiced support for the proposal and said mayors across the province are backing the initiative.
Mr. Sali said the planned institution would complement both provincial education programs and the broader educational agenda of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM. โIโm 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,โ Mr. Lim, a lawyer who also serves as spokesman for the parliament, said.
The proposal has received support from several members of the regional legislature, including Naguib Sinarimbo, Ishak Mastura, and Kadil Sinolinding Jr., the physician and regional health minister. โThere is an urgent need to establish that proposed maritime school in Tawi-Tawi,โ Dr. Sinolinding said.
Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua said he has no objections to the measure, raising hopes among supporters that the bill could advance toward passage.
Residents of Tawi-Tawi consider the issue to be more than infrastructure. It is about making professional education accessible in a province where the sea is central to everyday life and where many families have long relied on maritime work for their livelihoods.
Tawi-Tawi is one of five provinces in BARMM, alongside Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur. The autonomous region also includes the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato City, where the regional government is based.
If approved, the school could allow generations of young Tausugs, Sama, and other island communities to pursue maritime careers without leaving the province that has always lived by the sea.
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