Featured image above shows senators and BARMM officials flash the peace sign to signify the primacy of the GPH-MILF peace process. From the right: Sen. Francis Tolentino, Senator JV Ejercito, BARMM Chief Minister Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, and BARMM Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal. Looking on is BARMM Science Minister Aida Silongan. At far right is Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa
(Photo: SDN)
BARMM Chief Minister Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim Leads Bangsamoro Officials at Senate Hearing on Postponement of First Parliamentary Polls
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- EDD K. USMAN | X (Twitter): @edd181 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 |Facebook: SDN – SciTech & Digital News
SENATE, Pasay City (SDN) — To postpone — and for how long — or to not postpone the scheduled first parliamentary polls in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). That’s the $64 question.
Sen. Joseph Victor G. Estrada sponsored Senate Bill No. 2942 that seeks to postpone the regional polls for three months — May to August 2025. He conceded, though, that three months is a short period to achieve what has to be done by the BARMM government.
To know the answer to this very important question, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim on Monday, January 27, 2025, attended the hearing here of the bills seeking to postpone what could be a historic political exercise. Unless this is done, it will be synchronized with the National and Local Elections (NLE) on May 12, 2025.
Ebrahim is president of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the political arm of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which he chairs. The MILF formally transformed itself into a social movement announced during the September 23-24, 2024, Consultative Meeting and General Assembly at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte.
At the Senate hearing, among those with the chief minister included UBJP Executive Vice President Mohagher M. Iqbal, Interior Minister Atty. Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba, BARMM Members of the Parliament (MPs) Atty. Mary Ann M. Arnado, Atty. Raissa H. Jajurie, Atty. Nabil Tan, Atty. Rasol Mitmug, Atty. Jose Lorena, Baileng S.U. Mantawil, and others.
Iqbal, chairman of the MILF Peace Implmenting Panel (PIP), welcomed and noted the positive response of senators on the proposed resetting to another date of the uniquely Philippine-style parliamentary political exercise.
“So far so good. All the senators are for the common good. In particular, they are so enthusiastic in preserving the gains of the peace process and the rule of law,” Iqbal, the veteran MILF chief negotiator, tells SDN – SciTech & Digital News in a message.
On the part of the national government, Office of the Presidential Adviser, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. led the attendees, that included OPAPRU staff, among them Jordan Bayam, and others.
Senators discussed Sulu situation, establishment of new “Kutawato Province”, other topics
Senator Jude Victor “JV” Estrada presented the bill he sponsored on the Bangsamoro political exercise which, if passed and signed into law, will reset the regional polls for the second time.
Running the Bangsamoro government through the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) under the MILF’s UBJP, Ebrahim, some other BARMM officials, MPs district representatives, and party-lists have already filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COC) to run in the parliamentary polls.
But apparently the Bangsamoro officialdom and the MPs are also of the mind in the polls’ delay for the election of 80 MPs.
Senators Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Robinhood “Abdulaziz” Padilla, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III interpellated Estrada, as they sought clarifications on the bill on the BARMM parliamentary elections.
The solons took turns seeking clarity on some of the bill’s “rationale”, including on issues pertaining to the exclusion by the Supreme Court in September 2024 of the province of Sulu from the BARMM family, the creation of a new Bangsamoro province to be called “Kutawato” out of the eight new municipalities comprising the Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato, what happens if the parliamentary polls are not postponed, and importantly its impact on the generally peaceful atmosphere in Central Mindanao, particularly in the BARMM region.
They also discussed whether to have the incumbent BARMM officials on a holdover capacity to prevent the disruption of governmental functions and services because appointing new ones would take a long time. including new appointed officials’ familiarization — or learning curve — with their functions. And whether those file their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) for the May 12 parliamentary polls needed to re-file COCs for a new election schedule.
As SDN have observed during the Monday hearing, the senators are generally receptive of the postponement, as they raised the importance of preserving the peace in Southern Philippines.
Padilla, who always emphasizes his representation of his brother Muslims in the Senate, raised the question of a possible problem if the peace process is not given the attention it needs to preserve the climate of peace achieved through the signing of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
The Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF forged the CAB that took 17 years to achieve.
With the closing of the interpellations on Estrada’s bill, the Senate set Tuesday, January 28, as the period for amendments. (♡)
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January 29, 2025, 11:19 a.m.: This story was updated to include more details.