In September 2019, there was a reported proposal to reorganize the Cotabato barangays into four municipalities through regional legislation and possibly annex them to the neighboring Maguindanao province.

Pending the passage of the regional law, there is a plan by Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim to issue an executive order to group the barangays into eight clusters.

[3] The regional government would wait for the results of the 2020 census to determine the exact barangays that would be reorganized into new towns.

[13] However, such plan was considered impossible by the Bangsamoro office of the Commission on Elections due to time constraints.

[17] The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity reported that the creation was declared ratified after the completion of canvassing at 9 pm.