IN MY LAST column immediately preceding this piece, I presented the two main regional political groups that would slug it out in the BARMM’s 1st Parliament election scheduled in conjunction with the midterm national and local polls next year. These are the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) and the Bangsamoro Grand Coalition (BGC) of four or so regional political parties organized by ruling traditional political leaders.
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Ali G. Macabalang
The UBJP is the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which presently leads the transitional BARMM governance. Its top officials include MILF Chair and BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Hadji Murad” Ebrahim as president, MILF Vice Chair Mohagher Iqbal as vice president, and MILF-BIAF Chief of Staff and Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof Macacua as secretary general.
The BGC, on the other hand, comprises the Al Ittihad-UKB of Maguindanao Sur Gov. Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu and husband, Sultan Kudarat ex-Gov. Suharto “Teng” Mangudadatu; the Serbisyong Inklusibo Alyansang Progresibo (SIAP) of Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal “Bombit” Alonto-Adiong Jr. and son Vice Gov. Mohammad Khalid “Mujam” Rakiin-Adiong; the Salam Party of Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan; and the Bangsamoro People’s Party (BPP) of Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman.
UBJP hierarchy and members are obviously up for the continued rule of Chairman Ebrahim as chief minister, while the BGC hierarchy has announced intention to nominate Sulu Gov. Tan to the same top regional post. The move was a shift from a long-standing aspiration of Ex-Gov. and incumbent TESDA Director General Teng Mangudadatu.
In the 2025 BARMM election, resident voters will elect 80 Members of Parliament (MPs), 40 of whom via party-list voting system, 32 by districts and eight representatives of identified sectors for women, youth, traditional leaders, religious blocs, and Indigenous people, among others. The 80 MPs will eventually choose the chief minister, the parliament speaker and other top regional officials.
Two other regional parties have registered to participate in the regional race: The Bangsamoro Party (BaPa) of former Cotabato City Mayor and current MNLF faction Chairman Muslimin Sema; and the Indigenous Political Party formed by IP groups in BARMM wanting direct representation to key positions in BARMM. But both parties are reportedly not aspiring for the chief minister’s post.
The one Maguindanao province had been the vote richest in BARMM until its split into Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur in 2022. This time, Lanao del Sur stands for having the largest number of registered voters.
BARMM has six sitting provincial governors. Three of them – Governors Adiong of Lanao del Sur, Tan of Sulu and Sangki-Mangudadatu of Maguindanao del Sur – belong to the BGC. The three others – Governors Jim Hataman-Saliman of Basilan, Yshmael “Mang” Sali of Tawi-Tawi, and Macacua of Maguindanao del Norte are identified with the UBJP.
City Mayors Mohammad-Ali “Bruce” Matabalao of Cotabato and Roderick Furigay of Lamitan are rallying the UBJP, while Marawi City Majul Gandamra is believed supportive of the BGC on account of his alliance with Gov. Adiong.
The majority of leaders and registered voters in the newly created eight towns in the SGA which are proposed to be the BARMM’s 7th province would likely rally the UBJP, even as the regional leadership led by CM Ebrahim will likely name the interim officials of such localities through the Ministry of Interior and Local Government.
Meanwhile, a greater number of civil society groups has started campaigning for second wave of extension from 2025 to 2028 in the lifespan of the BTA, an interim ruling body of BARMM, on account of largely unfinished works in the fulfillment of provisions in the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) and R.A. 11054, known as the Bangsamoro Organic Law, notably in the normalization track covering strides to transform MILF combatants into peaceful and productive citizens.
The first wave of extension covering 2022 to 2025 was also pushed by CSOs, responded to positively by Congress, and approved by the President. Among the reasons behind the extension were the adverse impacts of COVID-19 in the building of BARMM foundations, and the incomplete implementation of both the political and normalization tracks prescribed in the CAB and BOL.
Proceedings in both the extension campaign and the actual campaign period for the first BARMM election have this early gained public attention as both spectacular events in the new regional autonomy.
Some sectors are equally keen in watching for possible “last minute” adjustments in the aspirations of the BGC, even as local political pundits are speculating that Gov. Tan would back out from gunning for the CM post in favor of ex-Gov. Mangudadatu. The former governor, now a TESDA chief, is the prime organizer of the BGC and had earlier expressed interest for the CM post. (AGM)
PHILIPPINE MUSLIM TODAY 
Do we really have the choice between Political Reform of a Status Quo? Which party have the chance of political reform? And which Party have the program of a Status quo?
My own take is that all Parties are following the same path, taking on an old and obsolete, fraudulent, using 3Gs, election manipulation, vote-buying, ghost voters, multiple registrants, flying voters. All these prevailed in the last 2022 elections despite the the premature participation of the much hoped UBJP in that election.
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