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- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
COTABATO CITY, June 21, 2024 (SDN) — A massive crowd of members and supporters from all over Mindanao of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) headed by its president, Chief Minister Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, is anticipated tomorrow, Saturday.
The event is the UBJP’s General Assembly for Central Mindanao, information reaching SDN — SciTech Digital News showed. It will be held at the open grounds of the Mindanao State University (MSU) Maguindanao, one of the 11 campuses of the higher education institution (HEI) in Mindanao.
Reports said the UBJP’s officials are hoping to gather a mammoth attendance in the realm of more or less a 100,000 warm bodies from all over the Bangsamoro region. Attendees are expected from the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, as well as from the mainland — provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, and Maguindanao del Norte.
Owing to the fact that the UBJP has vice presidents for Settler Communities — Member of Parliament or MP Mary Ann M. Arnado– and Indigenous People (IP) — Ramon Piang, Jr. — not only Muslims are expected but also Christians and IPs.
Also expected to help draw crowds are the other UBJP vice presidents for Central Mindanao; BASULTA (Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi with Zamboanga City; Northern Mindanao; Southern Mindanao; Zamboanga Peninsula; Eastern Mindanao; Youth; Women; Traditional Leaders; and Ulama.
Not the least are members and supporters of the UBJP, the political arm of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chaired by Ebrahim, from the Special Geographic Area (SGA).
Here is the complete list of the UBJP officials:
- President — Ahod B. “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim
- Executive Vice President & Vice President for Central Mindanao — Mohagher M. Iqbal
- Vice President for BASULTA with Zamboanga City — Matarul Estino
- Vice President for Northern Mindanao — Shiekh Ali Solaiman
- Vice President for Southern Mindanao — Dr. Mohammad Yacob
- Vice President for Zamboanga Peninsula — Malik Caril
- Vice President for Eastern Mindanao — Hussein Munoz
- Vice President for Youth — Abdullah Hashim
- Vice President for Women — Aida Silongan
- Vice President for Settler Communities — Atty. Mary Ann M. Arnado
- Vice President for Indigenous People — Ramon Piang, Sr.
- Vice President for Traditional Leaders — Datu Antao Midtimbang
- Vice President for Ulama — Sheikh Abdulwahab Pak
- Secretary General — Abdulraof Macacua
- Treasurer — Architect Eduard Guerra
- Information Officer — Mohajirin Ali, MNSA
The Bangsamoro region, established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages that voted “Yes” in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction. With the recent plebiscite at SGA, the BARMM now has eight new municipalities as residents voted “Yes”.
According to the Philippine Atlas BARMM has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities (plus eight newly established under the SGA: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; undivided Maguindanao, 36; Sulu, 19; and Tawi-Tawi, 11. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital) in Maguindanao; Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur.
It can be recalled that in preparation for the scheduled inaugural parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro region, the UBJP drew the first blood in terms of holding its Regional General Assembly earlier this year on February 17 at the Cotabato State University (CSU) Oval along Sinsuat Avenue, this city, the BARMM capital.
While the UBJP was expecting just some 10,000 attendees, the last report near the conclusion of the general assembly by the Secretariat was 28,000 registered individuals.
On February 19, Ebrahim, along with party stalwarts and hundreds of guests, inaugurated the UBJP Regional Headquarters in Barangay Tamontaka 1, Cotabato City.
The UBJP also held an assembly in Lanao del Sur, in Basilan, in Tawi-Tawi with huge crowds of members and supporters. Earlier this June, UBJP leaders traveled to the SGA for another political activity during which thousands of members took their oath before Mohagher M. Iqbal, executive vice president and vice president for Central Mindanao.
Other regional parties have also been ramping up their activities as each of them prepares for the highly anticipated parliamentary polls. (✓)