The recent series of articles featured in this column spawned the interest of not a few residents.

There are many who, for decades, have harbored enmity against the Matling Industrial and Commercial Corporation or MICC for reasons we discussed in past articles, foremost of which is the alleged encroachment of the corporation's operations on private lands.

Maranaw professionals have reacted favorably to the narratives. Some even volunteered information about other abuses and the indiscretions of the plant's security guards.

They are thankful that with the publication of their grievances, things have come to the fore and the consciousness of many. They raised the collective hope that the government would act on their complaints. 

This column can only do so much. It has no wherewithal, nay, political authority, to vet the veracity of the complaints in an investigation.

Its primary mandate is to bring to a broader audience what is fed to it by residents with an axe to grind.

That mandate is with the government. A follow-up inquiry should be initiated after the premise has been laid down through this column.

The investigation should be welcomed by everyone interested in the issue. It will provide the party complained of an opportunity to present its side in the spirit of due process, the cornerstone of a democratic institution. For all we know, the company has been acting within the bounds of the law and norms.

For this purpose, readers look up to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Authority or BTA to take up the cudgels for those whose interests have been adversely affected by the operations of the MICC.

After all, the raison d'etre for the BARMM is, inter alia, to correct injustices inflicted upon the Moros, like the dispossession of their ancestral and legally owned land, and to alleviate their lot.

What good is a self-governing political structure if it cannot address the problems of its constituents? The ball is now in the court of the interim Chief Minister and the Speaker of the Regional Parliament. The people are watching and waiting for action.