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COTABATO CITY (SDN) — At least a thousand officers and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF) are expected at the group’s 2024 Consultative Meeting and General Assembly to be led by MILF Chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim.
The event will be held on September 23-24 from 8 a.m. in the MILF’s Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Among others expected at the event are MILF Chief of Staff Sammy Gambar (Maguindanao del Norte Gov. Abdulraof Macacua), MILF Chief Negotiator and Peace Implementing Panel Chairman Mohagher M. Iqbal (BARMM education minister), etc. Not to be left out are the group’s battled-tested commanders and its grizzled warriors.
In an announcement on the Facebook page of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the MILF’s political wing, the leadership of the group invited all the members, supporters, and representatives to come and be one at the meeting and assembly.
“This assembly is part of our dedication and solidarity with the MILF’s initiatives to continue the good reforms we have started in the region. In our consultation you will hear about important topics in the discussion to cement our unity and the goals for the Bangsamoro,” the MILF said in the announcement.
It added that those called upon are expected to attend and be counted.
Not mentioned in the announcement but may expected to be part of the topics is the forthcoming first parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro region to elect the regular 80 Members of the Parliament (MPs).
Life must go on despite Supreme Court removing Sulu from BARMM
From an elected Parliament, the MPs will then elect among themselves the first regular chief minister who will lead the Bangsamoro government for three years.
Ebrahim has been the interim chief minister of the BARMM, the head of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) since January 2019. Regional election was to be held on May 9, 2022, but it was re-scheduled to May 2025 because, among others, of the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic that grounded the world to a halt — what with quarantines and lockdowns to prevent the China-borne scourge from spreading and killing more people.
Also anticipated to be a part of the topics at the MILF meeting/consultation is the recent decision of the Supreme Court that ruled the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) as constitutional, but at the same time nullified Sulu province’s membership in the BARMM.
The ruling on Sulu by the High Court was a shock to the Bangsamoro political leaders and, perhaps, even for many people on the ground. It was also made clear in the ruling the island province’s removal from the BARMM family was to be executed immediately.
As a result of the ruling, at least 5,000 BARMM employees, including teachers, have lost their employment starting September 15.
Recall also that Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan had already made public his plans eyeing the post of BARMM chief minister in the parliamentary polls.
In fact, his Salam Party, a provincial politically focused group, had already joined the Bangsamoro Grand Alliance (BGC) of BARMM regional parties.
Alas, the Supreme Court cutting of Sulu from the Bangsamoro’s umbilical cord has turned thins upside down.
The BARMM will not be complete without Sulu, which had been a vital key and played a major role in the Bangsamoro struggle for self-determination.
But, as the saying goes, life must go on! (/)