Marcos Jr.’s BARMM reshuffle ruffles MILF

Photo courtesy of Bangsamoro Information Office

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The appointment of a new interim minister and interim parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  was met with criticisms from some observers.

With seven months away from the BARRM parliamentary elections, Abdulraof Abdul Macacua, who is current OIC governor of Maguindanao del Norte and Chief of Staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), was appointed to head the new region on March 3. The confirmation came six days later on Sunday, March 9, but was not announced formally from Malacañang.

Macacua replaces Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, who is also Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair. 

The BARMM was established following a peace agreement between the Philippine government and MILF in 2014 and a plebiscite that expanded the previous ARMM and granted leadership of MILF in the autonomous region.

An 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority was established in 2019 for a three-year transition heading to their parliamentary election, but this has been extended thrice, in June 2022, June 30, 2025 and extended until October 30.  Ebrahim has been appointed as interim Chief Minister throughout the extended transition.

The appointment of Macacua was welcomed by Ebrahim. 

“His leadership and commitment to peace and development in the region are well-documented. I wish him well in his endeavors,” Ebrahim said in a statement posted on his Facebook account.

Ebrahim was appointed as a member of the parliament, but announced that he is declining the position, saying that he will focus on leading the MILF and its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, as it seeks to win the majority of the BARMM parliament in October.

Heavy-handed

But the manner of appointment of Macacua was seen as heavy-handed  by former Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles.

In an interview with Mindanews, the former peace adviser thought President Marcos Jr. should have “thought about the move very carefully.”

“(S)uch a heavy-handed move by the Chief Executive to unilaterally change the leadership in the BARMM seven months before the first regional elections in October (postponed for the 2nd time by the expressed wish of the President, according to the Senate President), sends a negative message about how the national leadership regards autonomy, which was the very subject of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed between the parties in 2014,” Deles said.

Deles added that the move may cause “new, possibly destabilizing power dynamics… at a time when stability is most needed in the lead up to the October elections.” She noted the many firsts for BARMM in the regions as they elect diverse positions in the parliament, district and partylist system.

She also hoped that there would be no more postponement of the Bangsamoro parliamentary election in October.

Mohager Iqbal, chair of the MILF peace implementing panel, said there were provisions in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) that the president violated in the appointment process.

In a press briefing with the media last week, Iqbal said the Bangsamoro Transition Authority is supposed to be MILF-led or a majority of the 80-member parliament.  Iqbal said six appointees from the MILF side were not in the list of recommendations they had submitted earlier to the President. 

Marcos re-appointed 58 members of the Bangsamoro Parliament and appointed 19 new members.  Macacua was on the list of recommended leaders for the parliament but not as interim chief minister.

Macacua in a press conference on March 20 reached out to his fellow MILF leaders for reconciliation as “brothers in the revolution” over the recent change in the BARMM leadership, according to a Mindanews report. (davaotoday.com)