MILF to question BARMM chief’s appointment
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will question the government’s appointment of the new Bangsamoro chief minister during a meeting with the Malaysian third-party facilitator which acts as oversight in the implementation of the 2014 peace deal signed between the Philippine government and the former rebel group.
Mohagher Iqbal, chief of the MILF peace implementing panel, said the government’s appointment of the new chief minister and other personalities not endorsed by the MILF violated the spirit of the peace deal and put in question the sincerity of the government, even if newly appointed Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua came from the MILF.
Iqbal emphasized the participation of the Malaysian facilitator, “because the issue here is not just the implementation, but the perceived violation,” he said.
He clarified, however, that the MILF does not question the President’s authority to appoint a new chief minister but only wanted both panels to review the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and other peace infrastructure.
“What we are invoking is the agreement and what was provided in the law passed by Congress,” Iqbal said. “We do not question the authority of the President to appoint anyone, but on the basis of the CAB and the BOL, there are provisions that [were] violated.”
He said the CAB and the BOL stipulated that the government of the expanded autonomous region should be MILF-led, which means that in the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament, the MILF is supposed to have 41 members, including the chief minister.
He said this was followed during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte and later in 2022 by President Marcos.
“But right now, the chief minister did not come from the official list of the MILF,” he said, referring to Macacua, who was on the MILF’s list but not as chief minister.
“We were supposed to have 40 seats but the MILF only had 34 as six or seven [of the names] came from elsewhere, not from the official list,” Iqbal said.
He said it was time to revisit the CAB because the peace implementation could even prove more “tricky” than the peace negotiations.
‘International community’
According to Iqbal, who heads the MILF’s peace implementing panel, they met with the new Malaysian facilitator, Tan Sri Zulkifli bin Zainal Abidin, in Manila last week.
“[There is no] schedule [yet] for our formal meeting, but the government panel was there. There will be a meeting of the minds,” Iqbal told journalists who joined a media tour on March 20 called “Inside BARMM,” organized by Mindanews and Media Impact Philippines.
“We want to bring this up to the international community because the international community is involved directly or indirectly. The issue of peace is the concern of everybody including the international community and the issue in Mindanao is very material to national stability,” he said.
“Part of [the reason for that meeting] is to assess [the implementation of] the peace process,” he said.
No rift
Iqbal brushed aside speculations of a rift in the MILF.
Still, Iqbal emphasized that if there were hurt feelings, the MILF will continue to act as one.
Macacua, who assumed office also on March 20, said he personally went to Camp Darapanan the day before “to bid farewell” to outgoing Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim as he was about to assume the post.
Iqbal suggested that the official turnover be held after the oathtaking at Malacañang.
The turnover is set on March 27, the 11th year of the CAB signing.
