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COTABATO CITY—The Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will collaborate in strengthening their vigilance efforts to ensure peaceful and credible midterm elections in the Bangsamoro region, following the inking of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 29, 2025.
Presidential Assistant Cesar Yano on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) emphasized that the guidelines—the result of the accord — will allow the GPH-MILF to calibrate on the same page, primarily in the discharge of their duties as key players for the polls’ peaceful triumph.
“Ang guidelines ay para pareho ang pagkakaintindi natin sa isang bagay dahil itong gaganapin na election ay napakahalaga,” said Yano, who is also the GPH Peace Implementing Panel (PIP) chairperson, during the ceremonial signing between the GPH-MILF’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad-Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanano del Norte.
[The guidelines are provided so we can have the same understanding of our initiatives because these upcoming elections are very important.]MILF-AHJAG Executive Director Anwar Alamada expressed his optimism about the aid the MOU will bring about, saying, “Magiging kasama (ang MOU) sa solusyon para maisagawa ang honest at tahimik na election.”
[The MOU will be part of the solution to hold honest and peaceful elections.]Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the MILF shall lead the interim government.
Likewise, GPH-CCCH Chairman Brigadier General (BGen) Patricio Ruben Amata of the Philippine Army stated the support of the military for the parties’ accord.
“We take an important step in ensuring that the elections on May 12, 2025, in the Bangsamoro region will be fair, free, peaceful and honest, and a true reflection of the will of the people, unmarred by fear, intimidation and violence,” BGen Amata shared.
Automated Election System
Atty. Ray Sumalipao, Regional Director of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)-BARMM’s Electoral Office, reaffirmed the ‘integrity’ of the automated election system, aligned with their pledge to spearhead the conduct of ‘credible’ polls.
“The essence of automated elections is to allow the voters to insert the ballot. After voting, they will insert the ballot into the machine. You cannot expect any irregularity in that particular step of the electoral process,” Sumalipao assured.
He also mentioned the strict imposition of ‘limited human intervention’ from casting the votes to the winner proclamations, justifying truthful polls.
The National and the Bangsamoro Governments remain committed to securing peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), solidified by the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). (Johamin Inok/BIO with reports from OPAPRU)