Dark skies loom over BARMM (2)
COTABATO CITY—The dark skies looming in the heartland of the Bangsamoro autonomous region are not based on thin air. The current air in the region is thickened with doubts and high levels of disillusionment among ordinary constituents, especially those who still need to feel how this new region is different from the former, less autonomous setup called the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
This time, with another letter added to the acronym (B for Bangsamoro), and after more than five years of transition, many constituents still doubt that their new leaders will create a huge difference in their lives, uplifting them from grinding poverty.
Several decisions, made remotely in Malacañang, through the instigation of regional interlocutors, have compounded an already existing fissure among the top leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). If not dissipated in a timely and judicious manner, it can soon erupt like a major pyroclastic event.
As the entity that caused the creation of a new region, the national government was supposed to handhold the fledgling region after its creation in 2019. It is a responsibility concomitant to creating a new autonomous region as part of the Philippine national polity. Such responsibility is an integral part of being the “mother” political entity, just like the responsibility of a mother to her newborn baby. But nothing like this happened. This was during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
An appropriate overall framework and design for an envisioned effective regional management system could have been installed right at the onboarding of the new ministers and heads of offices and agencies under the huge and complicated autonomous government setup. On top of these complications is the design of the new autonomous government that is asymmetrical to that of the national government.
The BARMM regional government structure follows a parliamentary form, while the national government is organized around a presidential and unitary structure.
In earlier conversations with former MILF leaders turned regional executives, they admitted to me that “running a revolution is so much easier than running a bureaucracy like the BARMM.” But since they were already installed as the region’s new leaders, they had to make it work. And they did, with bungles along the way, as expected.
The current sitting president is supposed to act on any infirmities in the mechanisms installed in the regional government. After all, through one stroke of his pen, he created a situation that has severed whatever deep, cohesive ties members of the top MILF leadership used to have. But given his usual lackadaisical style, not much is expected of him to address this mess he has inadvertently (many think this was intentional) created. Moreover, he faces serious challenges in his administration, not counting the staunch opposition from the camp of his vice president, his former UniTeam partner, someone who used to gush, “I love you BBM,” at times when they played sweet political music together.
In deference to the holy month of Ramadan, BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua is holding back his threats of removing those whom he suspects are involved in the petition to oust him. But what happens after Ramadan?
President Marcos should take the responsibility of having driven a wedge among the top MILF leadership through his decisions in rearranging the interim leadership and of the membership of the interim Parliament. Such decisions were obviously influenced by some scheming interlocutors who stand to gain in the event that the top MILF leadership will finally be divided after they succumb to the old divide-and-rule playbook.
For the MILF, its leaders should step back and reflect on their overall goal of continuing the struggle for self-determination in a political, nonviolent way. They should not let their sense of maratabat (personal pride and honor, usually attached to a leadership position) prevail.
They had spent their youth fighting for self-determination. As officials in their advanced age, the MILF leadership should start a serious process of retrospection on coming to terms with differences among them, without losing sight of their common goal as former rebels. They vowed to continue serving the interests of the Bangsamoro, this time not on the battlefield but in the political arena, with a commitment to work for the welfare of the greater number of the Bangsamoro.
Political positions are temporary, and politicians do not have proprietary hold on them. Regional officials appointed by the President should realize they are entrusted with immense responsibility—not power—because the latter should belong to the people who pay their salaries through taxes.
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