BARMM education minister sacked
COTABATO CITY—Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua removed Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal from his post in defiance of the leadership of erstwhile secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
On May 11, Macacua had written to Iqbal to ask him to step down as head of the BARMM’s Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE). The letter also emphasized that if Iqbal does not resign, he is deemed to have resigned by the close of business hours on May 18.
Macacua, who also heads the MILF’s military wing that is undergoing decommissioning, said his call for Iqbal’s resignation stemmed from recent findings by the Commission on Audit (COA) about P2.2 billion in questionable financial transactions of MBHTE.
This, according to Macacua, erodes public trust in the BARMM.
But Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, chair of the MILF central committee, wrote a memo to Macacua asking him to reconsider his decision to remove Iqbal from the BARMM Cabinet.
On May 18, the deadline set for him to leave office, Iqbal refused to resign saying doing so would create the impression he was guilty of the allegations of irregularities in MBHTE.
But Macacua said he received word from Iqbal, relayed through Parliament Speaker Mohammad Yacob, that his “brother-in-arms” will not object to being removed from office.
On Wednesday, Macacua convened the MBHTE management committee, announcing that he is taking leadership of the ministry in a concurrent capacity to ensure that services for the education sector would not be hampered.
Power struggle
The removal of Iqbal highlights a deeper power struggle within the BARMM transition government, coming at a time when the region prepares for the long-delayed parliamentary elections on Sept. 14.
In his memorandum to Macacua, Ebrahim asserted that decisions, such as the removal of Iqbal, “must be preceded by a mandatory consultation with the MILF as lead organization in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), and the Bangsamoro Organic Law.”
“Please be reminded that as Interim Chief Minister, this decision is not solely yours to make,” Ebrahim told Macacua in his May 18 memo.
Ebrahim also asserted that Macacua, as chief minister, has the “duty to consult the MILF on major decisions affecting the affairs of the BARMM, especially on policy directions, appointments, transfer or removal of key MILF officials that will directly impact on the implementation of CAB and the overall structure of the peace process.”
Iqbal is not an ordinary Cabinet member in the BARMM, according to Ebrahim, as he is chair of the MILF peace implementing panel. Iqbal is also vice chair of the MILF’s central committee.
“To remove him as an active member of the Cabinet will have dire effects on the participation of the MILF in the political track of the transition period,” he said.
Amid the highly charged atmosphere surrounding the issue, the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office emphasized that the chief minister is vested with legal authority to appoint members of the BARMM Cabinet and with it also comes the power to remove such officers.
Reforms
Macacua said the leadership change in MBHTE was “not about Brother Iqbal; it’s about reforms” along the notion of moral governance instituted during Ebrahim’s time as chief minister.
Macacua said his defiance may cost him to lose leadership of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, whose 40,000 combatants are the subject of a phased decommissioning program in keeping with the CAB, the landmark peace deal the group inked with the government in 2014.
But he vows to “fight it out” if he is removed as a member of the MILF, which has now transitioned from an armed revolutionary organization into a social movement.
