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COTABATO CITY, January 14, 2026 (SDN) — Like a blink of the eye, well, not really, but the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will reach its seven-year milestone on January 21.
Remember that the 2018 Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) established the BARMM in 2019 to implement the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The Philippine Government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberationt Front (MILF) signed the peace accord on March 27, 2014, after 17 years of protracted negotiations punctuated by major and minor fighting between the two parties’ armed forces.
The first day of the life of the Bangsamoro region is reckoned from January 21, 2019, the first session of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament.
Every year the regional government is celebrating the BARMM’s foundation day with a colorful activities showcasing the population’s tri-peoples’ rich culture and traditions: Moro (Muslim), Settler (Christian), and Indigenous Peoples (IPs), who have been living together in many communities in the region.
Every one of the 15 ministries, agencies, and offices of the Bangsamoro Government, being governed and ran by the BTA, is participating in the annual celebrations.
One of them is the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) headed by Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal, which has always been a participant in the activities.
In fact, the MBHTE together with Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali “Bruce” Matabalao convened a meeting today, Wednesday, to prepare for the foundation day.
They met at the Office of the Mayor, City Hall of Cotabato along the busy Sinsuat Avenue.
In preparation for BARMM 7th Foundation Anniversary
“This meeting of MBHTE personnel, local government officials, and Cotabato City Schools Division Office (SDO) focused on aligning plans to ensure the success and meaningful celebration of the Bangsamoro Foundation Day,” the education ministry said.
Minus Sulu province, the BARMM is comprised of Basilan, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, Marawi, and the Special Geographic Area (SGA) with eight new municipalities in North Cotabato but under the Bangsamoro Government jurisdiction.
For around six years, MILF Chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim headed the BTA/BARMM as interim chief minister, then replaced by Abdulraof Am Macacua, MILF chief of staff.
The Parliament, a unique setup in a Republican government, is the region’s lawmaking body, now with Speaker Ustadhz Mohammad S. Yacob as head. He replaced last year the late Speaker Pangalian Ali Balindong, the first speaker of the regional lawmaking body.
With 80 MPs, with 41 MILF members of the Parliament (MPs) and 39 nominated by GPH, the BTA under the CAB should be led by the MILF, which had already shifted formally to a social movement on September 23, 2024, abandoning its being an armed revolutionary organization. Presently, though, the Parliament has only 77 MPs.
The reality on the ground, observers noted, is that GPH nominees in the Parliament now outnumber the MILF, meaning the former separatist organization no longer holds the majority after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. did not appoint or reappoint all the 41 nominees of the MILF.
Thus, clearly, GPH-nominated MPs now hold the majority in the Parliament, in effect, observers said, a situation that may prove a big hurdle for the MILF in advancing its vision for the Bangsamoro, being the minority. Not to say there are MILF members who are with the GPH block.
One example is the voting on Parliament Bill (PB) No. 415, the Districting Law, which the Parliament passed on second and third reading hours before dawn on January 13, and now awaiting the chief minister’s signature.
A total 48 MPs voted “Yes”, 19 cast “No” votes (presumably MILF MPs), and 4 abstention. — EDD K. USMAN (©)