AFTER FAILING to get the support of all the governors in the Muslim autonomous region to extend his term and the interim Bangsamoro government for another three years, Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim now turned to President Rodrigo Duterte and recently flew to meet him in Davao City.
Ebrahim - also chieftain of the
former rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - said he is pushing
for the extension of the interim government based on the recommendation of
the peace advocacy group called Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus (MPC) following its so-called “rapid midterm review”
on the Bangsamoro transition period.
Details of Ebrahim’s meeting with
Duterte were not made public and the government did not issue any statement
about the conference.
But under the Bangsamoro
Organic Law (BOL), the Bangsamoro Transition Authority will be dissolved once
the new parliament is formed after the first regular elections in the region in
2022. However, any extension in the term of the BTA would require congressional
approval.
And because of that, Ebrahim’s
allies in the Bangsamoro Parliament adopted a resolution on November
17 urging the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines
to extend the Bangsamoro transition period from 2022 to 2025.
A press statement from Ebrahim’s
office said MP Jose Lorena, one of the principal authors of the
resolution, claimed the proposed extension is aimed at providing the BTA
sufficient time to continue in performing its powers and functions, and
complete its mandate.
Also cited in resolution are the
calls from the League of Municipalities of the Philippines’ chapter in
Tawi-Tawi, and the Provincial Boards of Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao to extend the
transition period.
Rejected
Sulu, one of 5 provinces under
the Muslim region, flatly rejected the proposed extension of the interim
Bangsamoro government citing various reasons, according to a manifesto passed
November 17 by the Sulu Provincial Board after consultations with municipal
mayors and peoples’ organizations among other sectors.
The manifesto said the Bangsamoro
Parliament and the Regional Government have not delivered even the most basic
of government services, as mandated, to Sulu. And for almost 2 years, all it
delivered were the retrenchment and separation from services of regional
employees causing a great distraught to the affected and their families.
It said that after almost 2 years,
“all they can afford to banner is but the passing of an Administrative Code
while the administration of component localities, in particular, the insular
provinces, were left to fend for themselves.”
The manifesto also said BARMM’s
response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Sulu, thus far, have been unsubstantial
and wanting, almost negligible; And to allow the extension of the transition
(period) would be tantamount to escape judgment by the constituents of the
BARMM on the performance of the latter vis-a-vis its capability to administer a
region, and would be a blatant denial of the people’s constitutional right of
suffrage to which the BOL has been incorporated into, and thus requiring
constitutional amendment or legislative intervention, failing which possible
legal redress maybe sough.
It further said “that the region
and the country in general, should be spared the humility and made a laughing
stock for perpetuating the condescending brand of a failed experiment.”
“The question should be asked to
those who are in the seat of authority in the BARMM on why are they so hesitant
to submit themselves to an election when even before the transition they have
repeatedly boasted of their readiness and preparedness to rule and govern; and
how could they have the moral ascendancy to sit as an authority over a region
when they are devoid of a mandate by the true will of the people, thereby
casting doubts on their platform of so-called “Moral Governance?”, the
manifesto reads.
It also called on the Office of
the President, House of Representatives and the Senate, and Constitutional
Commissions and other concerned groupings and individuals and the BARMM general
populace to disallow and deny all attempts and maneuverers to extend the tenure
of the BTA.
It said that aspiring members of
the Bangsamoro Parliament should be compelled to submit themselves before the
true will of the people to legitimize their mandate through the electoral
process as set and scheduled by the Constitution.
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan said he
received reports that Basilan and Lanao del Sur provinces are also opposed to
the proposed extension of the interim Bangsamoro government. “We received
reports that Basilan and Lanao are also opposed to the extension of the interim
Bangsamoro government,” he told The Zamboanga Post newspaper.
Fear
Ebrahim also fears that he may
not win should the elections push through and that is why there is a need to
extend the term of the interim government.
“We are very concerned kasi ang
tingin namin, nag-i-start pa lang kami. And then parang wala pa kaming tangible
na accomplishment talaga na maipakita namin. So ‘yun ang challenge sa amin, na
kung mag-eleksyon, baka sabihin ng mga tao, wala naman ginawa ito,” he said in a
podcast interview on November 13 with journalist Christian Esguerra on
Press One.
He said new transition schedule
might not be enough to complete systemic and structural changes in the region,
including the crucial decommissioning of combatants under the peace deal’s
normalization process. “Kasi nga nakita natin na kailangan talaga na meron.
Halimbawa, mabuti kung talagang siguradong manalo kami (in 2022 elections).
Pero walang assurance ‘yun kasi anybody’s game na pagka-eleksyon na. Pag hindi,
ano mangyayari dun sa other aspects ng negotiation?” he told Esguerra.
Esguerra’s
report said BARMM was allocated a much bigger budget compared with the old
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Its block grant is worth P65.3 billion in
this year’s appropriations law, on top of a P10-billion special development
fund it was supposed to receive. (Mindanao Examiner)
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