TAUSUGS WHO are natives of Sulu province are protesting the proposed extension of the interim Bangsamoro government for another 3 years despite strong opposition from various sectors and provincial leaders led by Governor Sakur Tan.
Governor Sakur Tan with the members of the Royal Council of the Sulu Sultanate.
Tan confirmed to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner the sentiments of the Tausugs. “People are now protesting here (in Sulu) because they are opposing the self-serving proposal to extend the interim Bangsamoro government for another 3 years,” he said.
Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and his allies in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) are pushing and lobbying for the extension of the interim government. It would also extend Ebrahim’s term and BTA members and those holding key positions in the regional government.
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 Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus
(MPC) following its so-called “rapid midterm review” on the
Bangsamoro transition period.
Mid-term review
House Deputy Speaker Mujiv
Hataman also wanted to review the implementation
of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), but this too was quickly
rejected by BARMM.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer also
quoted Hataman as saying: “Hindi ako against the extension. But I feel it is
not wise to blindly decide to extend without looking at the very reasons for
the call of extension and present concrete plans at addressing them. Kung wala
tayong malinaw na roadmap, paano natin assess kung ano ang kulang at ano ang
kailangan,” said Hataman, who urged the leadership of the House of
Representatives to exercise its power of congressional oversight and conduct a
midterm review of the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), and
the peace agreement that brought about the creation of BARMM.
Ebrahim has met
several times with President Rodrigo Duterte to lobby the proposed extension
even without public consultations, not even a meeting with the governors and
mayors of the volatile Muslim region.
Manifesto
Sulu has
cited various reasons for rejecting the proposed extension, according to a
manifesto passed November 17 by the Provincial Board after consulting 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, was 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.
Fears
Ebrahim said
he 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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