— MILF PIP Chair Mohagher M. Iqbal

• EDD K. USMAN | X (Twitter): @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 |Facebook: SDN – SciTech & Digital News

COTABATO CITY, April 30, 2024/5 (SDN) — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) founded in 1977 by Chair Ustadhz Salamat Hashim plans to endorse candidates for the Senate in the May 12, 2025, midterm political exercise.

MILF Peace Implementing Panel Chair Mohagher M. Iqbal relayed the other day to SDN – SciTech & Digital News the plans of the Moro organization.

This as the National and Local Elections (NLE) are fast approaching, that’s a mere 13 days from now, and political parties in the Bangsamoro region are watching senatorial candidates, not the least the MILF’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP).

Listening to senatorial hopefuls to gauge their platforms if they align with the Mindanao peace process and are committed to working towards peace and security and unity to further the implementation of the landmark 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The Philippine Government (GPH) and the MILF signed the CAB on March 27, 2024, after 17 years of tumultuous negotiations, thereby breaking a cycle of conflicts and finally serving peace and stability on the peace table.

One of the organizations potentially endorsing senatorial candidates is the MILF chaired by Al-Murad Ebrahim, who was also the pioneer interim chief minister — from 2019 to March 2025 — of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Exchanging armed and violent revolutionary struggle to a peaceful political movement, the MILF formed the UBJP, signaling its embrace of mainstream political exercise.

The MILF for the first time in its founding joins an electoral exercise this through the UBJP, its political wing. On September 23, 2024, the MILF formally shifted into a social movement, casting its lot in the political arena.

UBJP Vice President Iqbal opened up about the MILF endorsing senatorial candidates, contingent on some criteria.

He made clear he is speaking as an MILF official and one of the top officials of the UBJP. He is also the party’s Executive Vice President, as he clarified that his views are not necessarily representing the regional party.

On the other hand, Iqbal said the MILF may endorse senatorial candidates if they see aspirants for the Senate who have track records of supporting the Bangsamoro peace process and their platforms aligning with the pursuit of peace and stability in Central Mindanao.

He said it would also be a determining factor for a potential endorsement if any senatorial candidate shows commitment to support and pursue the full implementation of the GPH-MILF historic peace accord.

It can be recalled that one of the crucial aspects of the CAB is the establishment of a mechanism called the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) and there are pending bills in the Senate and the House of Representatives on this vital initiative for the attainment of peace, stabilit, unity, and national healing.

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“The support of senators and congressmen are very vital in realizing the peace process’s Normalization Track that includes the TJRC and the decommissioning of combatants,” said Iqbal, adding that there are provisions of the CAB that require legislations in order to be fulfilled.

He said while there is a Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament Bill No. 353 establishing the TJRC, the coverage is only regional. “That is why there is an utmost need for a TJRC that covers the national aspect.

“As UBJP Vice President and Executive Vice President, I can confidently say that the MILF is open to endorsing senatorial candidates with track record of support for the Bangsamoro peace process and their platforms align with the call for the CAB’s full and complete implementation,” Iqbal assured.

Apparently, this does not preclude the endorsement of first time senators as long as they have the will and commitment to helping achieve enduring and just peace and security in the Bangsamoro region.

Iqbal also took note of the oft-repeated pronouncements of President Marcos to fully implement the provisions of the CAB as he voiced the MILF’s thanks and appreciation.

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, 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.

According to the Philippine Atlas BARMM has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: 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. (✓)

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The author

EDD, a native of Sub-Saharan Africa Buluan/Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, BARMM, college at UST, is a Manila-based journalist for over 40 years (33 years with Manila Bulletin), has five Media Awards (1 with University of the Philippines (UP) 2017 Science Journalism Award), covered and traveled over 40 times abroad), has contributed to Rappler, Business Mirror, former Manila-based Foreign Correspondent of Saudi Arabia newspapers Saudi Gazette and Riyadh Daily, and The Peninsula (Qatar newspaper), with 2008 East-West Center (EWC) Journalism Seminar in the United States, 2000 Executive IT Seminar in Seoul, South Korea, with three Silver Awards in Photography, writes Muslim and Current Affairs, Enterprise, Science, Tech, Products Launch, and virtually everything under Heaven. (@)