A member of the Maguindanao del Norte Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) is keen on having a land use program for his hometown, Upi, adopted as a provincial law to ensure the proper utilization and environmentally-safe utilization of lands in the area.

Upi, an upland town, is one of the oldest towns in Maguindanao del Norte, home to mixed Muslim, Christian and non-Moro ethnic Teduray communities.

Michael Cueto Sinsuat, most known in the province as Babydatu Sinsuat, said on Sunday, August 3, that among the concerns they discussed during the the SP’s session last week is the Comprehensive Land Use Program 2024-2033 for the municipality of Upi,

It was the local government officials in Upi who proposed the measure, while Maguindanao del Norte’s provincial government was still led by appointed officials, installed by the Bangsamoro regional leadership after the creation of the province about three years ago. The 12 towns covered by the virtually still fledgling Maguindanao del Norte originally belonged to the old Maguindanao province.

Sinsuat said he will do his best, as member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, to secure the nod of his fellow provincial lawmakers on the Comprehensive Land Use Program 2024-2033 for their municipality.

Local executives in Upi, some 40 kilometers away from Cotabato City, the capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, are optimistic that their proposed land use plan shall soon become a provincial law with the help of the presiding chairperson of the SP, Vice Gov. Marshall Ibrahim Sinsuat.

The vice governor is well connected with the residents of Upi, which is so close to his hometown, the seaside Datu Blah Sinsuat in west of Maguindanao del Norte.

Photo shows the vice governor of Maguindanao del Norte and Sinsuat, both elected to office just last May 12, 2025, during a break in their session last Thursday. (August 3, 2025, Maguindanao del Norte, Bangsamoro Region)