Bangsamoro Organic Law: MILF questions gov’t compliance
“How can you lead if you don’t have supervision and control?”
COTABATO CITY — Following the change of leadership in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) questioned the sincerity of the Philippine government in complying with the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) which created the region.
This came after only 35 of the 41 MILF-endorsed nominees were appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim government of the BARMM. The MILF’s 41-member pattern was followed during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte and the first appointment made by the Marcos Jr. administration.
The government has appointed 77 BTA members so far, which is composed of 58 reappointments from the previous parliament and 19 new appointees.
Mohagher Iqbal, chief of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel, said that the recent appointment was a violation of the BOL and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The latter was the final peace pact signed by the MILF and the Philippine Government in 2014 which ended years of armed struggle for self-determination.
“How can you lead if you don’t have the supervision and control?” Iqbal told a group of Mindanao journalists who visited Cotabato City for an immersion activity on March 20. “What we are invoking is the agreement and what is provided in the law passed by Congress.”
Article 2, Section 16 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law states that the MILF shall lead the BTA without prejudice to the participation of the Moro National Liberation Front in its membership. MILF is a breakaway group of the MNLF.
Marcos appointed Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof Macacua as BARMM’s new interim chief minister, assuming office on Thursday and replacing MILF Chair Ahod Balawag “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim who stepped down from his position for him to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary elections in the region, according to a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
It is still unclear who will replace Macacua as governor of the province.
Macacua, who remains the chief of staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed wing of the MILF, will lead the regional government until the proclamation of winners of the region’s first parliamentary elections to be held on October 13.
Iqbal, who also serves as minister of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education, said that Macacua was part of the MILF-endorsed nominees but as a parliament member, not as interim chief minister. They nominated Ebrahim for the top position.
Even if six of the MILF nominees were not appointed by Marcos, the new interim chief minister said the new leadership can still be called “MILF-led,” saying there were MILF members from the nominees of the government who were appointed.
The MILF peace implementing panel chief said that there have been ongoing negotiations to rectify the issue. But if the remaining six MILF-submitted nominees would not be included, he said, “it would be one of the hardest decisions” as the matter needs to go through multilayered engagement. (DAA)
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