BARMM interim gov’t nixes call for term extension after SC decision on Sulu
MANILA, Philippines – The interim government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao shut down calls to extend its term beyond June 2025, in the wake of the complications caused by the Supreme Court decision that excluded Sulu from BARMM.
“We are not entertaining extension proposals,” BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag “Murad” Ebrahim said on Monday, September 23, after a consultative meeting and general assembly in Sultan Kudarat for members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which he heads.
Parliament member Michael Midtimbang previously filed a resolution with the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) urging the House and the Senate to reschedule the first parliamentary election in the BARMM set in 2025.
“This postponement would provide ample time to amend Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 58, the regional law that governs the creation of parliamentary districts”, he said, arguing that the measure does not adequately account for the redistribution of seven parliamentary seats once allocated to Sulu.
The BARMM parliament will elect 80 new members in 2025 — 40 party representatives, 32 district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives.
The Supreme Court earlier in September upheld the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which created BARMM, but also ruled to exclude Sulu from the region, because majority of the voters in province voted against the measure’s ratification during a plebiscite in 2019.
Support for Murad
If MILF wins majority of the parliament seats in 2025, Murad remains the group’s top choice to be BARMM chief minister, according to BARMM education minister Mohagher Iqbal.
“No one can still be compared, we see the track record, very clear that he has the most of qualifications, the people still wanted Murad to lead”, said Iqbal, who is one of the top brass of MILF central committee who also served as chief negotiator of the MILF peace panel.
Controversy brewed months back after South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., president of the President’s party Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), allegedly sought the support of town mayors in the BARMM for Malacañang’s supposed plans to make Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua the next chief minister of the Muslim-majority region.
Murad and Macacua, who once served as head of the MILF’s armed wing, have downplayed the issue and assured the public they remain united.
Murad expressed confidence they will win in the first BARMM parliamentary polls in 2025.
“What we are securing now is to make sure we protect our votes to be counted,” he said. – Rappler.com