Iqbal says government inconsistent in choice of BARMM leadership as Macacua takes over

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 20 March) — The government has been inconsistent in as far as the leadership of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is concerned, leading to confusion among the people, said Mohagher Iqbal, education minister of the country’s only self-governing region.

Newly appointed BARMM Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua speaks before reporters during a press conference during his first day in office at the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City on Thursday (20 March 2025). MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO

Iqbal made the pronouncement while the new Bangsamoro interim chief minister (ICM), Abdulraof Macacua, was formally installed Thursday morning at the Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC) here.

Macacua’s predecessor, Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, chairperson of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), did not show up to turn over the reins of power. Ebrahim held the position since the Bangsamoro region was created in 2019.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Macacua last March 3. He took his oath of office before Marcos at Malacañan Palace on March 12.

In a briefing here Thursday morning, Iqbal, also the chair of the MILF peace implementing panel, said that while the MILF recognizes the President’s authority to appoint members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), certain provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) were violated.

He said the BTA is supposed to be MILF-led, which means 41 members of the 80-member parliament should come from the organization. But he noted that six appointees from the MILF side were not in the list that they submitted to the President.

Iqbal was referring to Article XVI, Section 2 of Republic Act 11054, which provides that the MILF shall lead the BTA as the interim regional parliament.

“Control is part of leading,” he said, referring to provision in the agreement that the MILF shall comprise the majority of the regional lawmaking body. “That’s why we’re questioning the sincerity of the government.”

Iqbal said the CAB was not just an ordinary agreement because it was forged with the involvement of Malaysia as the third-party facilitator.

He clarified that Macacua, chief of staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the MILF’s military arm, was included in the list of nominees that they submitted to Malacañang but only as a Member of Parliament, not as interim chief minister.

Macacua served as governor of Maguindanao del Norte before his appointment as the ICM.

Marcos had appointed 77 members of the Bangsamoro Parliament in a major reshuffle. The appointments, signed on March 3, include 58 reappointments from the previous parliament and 19 new members, leaving three more seats vacant as of Thursday.

The new parliament members will serve until the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections in October this year.

Congress passed Republic Act No. 12123, postponing the elections initially scheduled for May 2025.

Iqbal said it is only now that the Palace did not stick to the list of nominees, including the choice of ICM, submitted by the MILF.

Mohagher Iqbal speaks before reporters in Cotabato City on Thursday (20 March 2025). MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO

He recalled that this was not the case during the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte and when Marcos extended the term of the BTA starting in August 2022.

Iqbal said the former ICM Ebrahim has scheduled a formal turnover to ensure a smooth transition, after he did not show up during Macacua’s formal installation today.

Upon his arrival at the BGC, Macacua immediately proceeded to the Bajao Hall, where he met with other BARMM officials and visitors. He then entered the Office of the Chief Minister.

Iqbal said that they have obtained an assurance that there will be no changes in the leadership of the ministries and offices of BARMM.

The Bangsamoro Information Office reported that Macacua made the same assurance during his installation.

“In the coming days, as your Chief Minister, I wish to reassure you that the ministries (offices and agencies) will maintain the status quo at this juncture,” the BIO quoted the official as saying.

In a short press conference Thursday afternoon, Macacua said he, Ebrahim and Iqbal had a talk in Camp Darapanan, the MILF’s administrative camp in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, where they agreed to hold a formal turnover on March 27.

He said that if MILF members harbored ill feelings toward each other [because of Ebrahim’s replacement as Interim Chief Minister], they can reconcile their misunderstanding as brothers in the revolution.

Macacua said that he knew that the MILF submitted a list of nominees and that as then-governor, he was also asked by Malacañang to submit five names.

He said he didn’t know who among the nominees would be appointed but added he was told by Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity that some appointees from the government side are MILF members.

“So, it (BTA) will still be MILF-led,” he said.

Galvez said that Ebrahim submitted an alleged resignation letter last March 3 so that he can focus in the campaign of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, the MILF’s political party, in the Bangsamoro regional polls in October.

During an MILF Central Committee meeting last week, Ebrahim reportedly denied signing a resignation letter.

Galvez said that Macacua should have been appointed in 2022 but the latter refused to give way for Ebrahim. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno, with a report from Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)