COTABATO CITY—Bangsamoro Sports Commission (BSC) assured its support to the 10-year-old chess prodigy Al-Basher “Basty” Buto to further develop his potentials.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Dec. 3, BSC chairperson Nu-man Caludtiag said, “rest assured that we (BSC) will extend our support, in whatever means necessary, to Basty (and other talents that we have in Bangsamoro) in further developing his potential and his eventual attainment of Chess Grandmaster.”
Buto, a Maranao and son of Jamellah and Bong Buto from Marawi City, brought consistent honor and pride to the Bangsamoro community and the country as a whole for dominating chess games both local and global competitions.
The Maranao chess wizard has been participating in chess tournaments since the age of five, and has scored gold medals held in different countries, including the 13th Asian Schools Chess Championship in China and 8th Asean Age Group Chess Championship in Malaysia in 2017.
He formed part of the Philippine Team from Nov. 28-Dec. 3, 2020 Fide Online World Cadets and Youth Rapid Championships.
The team included 15 other Filipino players such as International Master (IM) Daniel Quizon, woman international master Kylen Mordido, Jerlyn Mae San Diego and Franiel Magpily coached by First Asian Grandmaster Eugene Torre.
Meanwhile, Resolution No. 356 was also filed by Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament member Rasol Mitmug Jr. on Dec. 3, to give citation to Buto for his extraordinary skills and competence in chess game at his young age.
Among the Members of Parliament (MPs) who co-authored the resolution were Laisa Alamia, Suharto Ambolodto, Baintan Adil Ampatuan, Amilbahar Mawallil, Rasul Ismael, and Don Mustapha Loong.
MP Mitmug, in his resolution, cited attributions of kid “Basty” for previous achievement in local and international chess competitions reported since 2017 by prominent mainstream media networks, including the Aljazeera, the defunct ABS-CBN, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, among others.
Lawyer Mitmug also said the resolution aims to sustain technical and logistic supports from the BARMM bureaucracy, through the Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC) and the Bangsamoro Sports Commission (BSC).
The Philippine Sports Writer Association (PSWA) heralded Buto’s feats and potentials to global chess prestige, in addition to several reactions from the social media, as “one of the world’s youngest Chess grandmaster” in the future.
Buto is now preparing to represent the country to a 140-nation tournament in Georgia, USA on December 11, 2020. (Bureau of Public Information)
