Melanio Ulama
Melanio Ulama | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament | |
| Assumed office 29 March 2019 | |
| Appointed by | Rodrigo Duterte |
| Chief Minister | Murad Ebrahim |
| Bangsamoro Minister of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs | |
| Assumed office 26 February 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Datu Piang, Philippines |
| Citizenship | Filipino |
| Spouse | Elsie Capillo Grajido-Ulama |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation | Ancestral leader, politician |
Timuay Melanio Umbit Ulama is a Filipino politician, ancestral leader, and peace advocate who serves as the Indigenous Peoples' Affairs Minister of Bangsamoro and a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament.[1]
Early life and education
A member of the Teduray ethnic group[2] and a native of Upi, Maguindanao,[3] Melanio Umbit Ulama was born in Kabenge, Datu Piang, Maguindanao to Diwan Mamintal Ulama and Lucia Umbit Ulama. He attended Upi Agricultural School for his collegiate studies where he obtained a bachelor's degree in agriculture, majoring in agronomy in 1982. He pursued a masters' degree in public administration at the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City.[1]
Career
Ulama is a prominent leader of the non-Moro indigenous people (IP) community and was involved in several peace organizations in Mindanao. He holds the traditional title of Timuay and represents the Teduray.[4] He also served as the IP consultant for the former secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the leader of the Teduray and Lambangian Conference. He was also a member of the Chairman of Mindanao Peoples Caucus, a peace organization which consist of IP, Bangsamoro, and Christian communities in Mindanao. Ulama was also a former chairman of the Organization of Tribal Leaders Associations Conference and of Mindanao Action for Peace and Development and a former Vice Chairman of the Kadtuntaya Foundation. From 2003 to 2013, Ulama worked with the Office of Southern Cultural Communities Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (OSCC-ARMM).[1]
He is also a two-time member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, which helped formed the draft of a bill, which eventually became the Bangsamoro Organic Law,[2] with the MILF endorsing his appointment to the government body on both occasions.[1]
Ulama became part of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament, the interim legislature of the Bangsamoro autonomous region formed in 2019[2] and was appointed as the first minister of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs on February 26, 2019 by interim Bangsamoro Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim.[5]
Personal life
Melanio Ulama was married to Elsie Capillo Grajido, a school teacher, with whom he has two daughters who grew up to be nurses.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d "Minister's Corner". Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Arguilas, Carolyn (August 7, 2020). "From RAG to ARMM to BARMM: the IP's struggle for ancestral domains continues". MindaNews. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ "JICA, BTC, MILF Turnover QIP" (PDF). CCDP-B Bulletin (4). Comprehensive Capacity Development Project for the Bangsamoro: 2. July–September 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ "Moro: High Level Meeting With Indigenous Groups". Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. June 25, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ Arguilas, Carolyn (February 27, 2019). "Murad vows a government "free of all the ills of governance;" names 10 ministers". MindaNews. Retrieved February 27, 2019.