Murad turns to Duterte after Sulu rejects term extension

Posted to the Mindanao Examiner (Nov 26, 2020): Murad turns to Duterte after Sulu rejects term extension

AFTER FAILING to get the support of all the governors in the Muslim autonomous region to extend his term and the interim Bangsamoro government for another three years, Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim now turned to President Rodrigo Duterte and recently flew to meet him in Davao City.

Ebrahim - also chieftain of the former rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - said he is pushing for the extension of the interim government based on the recommendation of the peace advocacy group called Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus (MPC) following its so-called “rapid midterm review” on the Bangsamoro transition period.

Details of Ebrahim’s meeting with Duterte were not made public and the government did not issue any statement about the conference.

But under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the Bangsamoro Transition Authority will be dissolved once the new parliament is formed after the first regular elections in the region in 2022. However, any extension in the term of the BTA would require congressional approval.

And because of that, Ebrahim’s allies in the Bangsamoro Parliament adopted a resolution on November 17 urging the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines to extend the Bangsamoro transition period from 2022 to 2025.

A press statement from Ebrahim’s office said MP Jose Lorena, one of the principal authors of the resolution, claimed the proposed extension is aimed at providing the BTA sufficient time to continue in performing its powers and functions, and complete its mandate.

Also cited in resolution are the calls from the League of Municipalities of the Philippines’ chapter in Tawi-Tawi, and the Provincial Boards of Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao to extend the transition period.

Rejected

Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim region, flatly rejected the proposed extension of the interim Bangsamoro government citing various reasons, according to a manifesto passed November 17 by the Sulu Provincial Board after consultations with municipal mayors and peoples’ organizations among other sectors.

The manifesto said the Bangsamoro Parliament and the Regional Government have not delivered even the most basic of government services, as mandated, to Sulu. And for almost 2 years, all it delivered were the retrenchment and separation from services of regional employees causing a great distraught to the affected and their families.

It said that after almost 2 years, “all they can afford to banner is but the passing of an Administrative Code while the administration of component localities, in particular, the insular provinces, were left to fend for themselves.”

The manifesto also said BARMM’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Sulu, thus far, have been unsubstantial and wanting, almost negligible; And to allow the extension of the transition (period) would be tantamount to escape judgment by the constituents of the BARMM on the performance of the latter vis-a-vis its capability to administer a region, and would be a blatant denial of the people’s constitutional right of suffrage to which the BOL has been incorporated into, and thus requiring constitutional amendment or legislative intervention, failing which possible legal redress maybe sough.

It further said “that the region and the country in general, should be spared the humility and made a laughing stock for perpetuating the condescending brand of a failed experiment.”

“The question should be asked to those who are in the seat of authority in the BARMM on why are they so hesitant to submit themselves to an election when even before the transition they have repeatedly boasted of their readiness and preparedness to rule and govern; and how could they have the moral ascendancy to sit as an authority over a region when they are devoid of a mandate by the true will of the people, thereby casting doubts on their platform of so-called “Moral Governance?”, the manifesto reads.

It also called on the Office of the President, House of Representatives and the Senate, and Constitutional Commissions and other concerned groupings and individuals and the BARMM general populace to disallow and deny all attempts and maneuverers to extend the tenure of the BTA.

It said that aspiring members of the Bangsamoro Parliament should be compelled to submit themselves before the true will of the people to legitimize their mandate through the electoral process as set and scheduled by the Constitution.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan said he received reports that Basilan and Lanao del Sur provinces are also opposed to the proposed extension of the interim Bangsamoro government. “We received reports that Basilan and Lanao are also opposed to the extension of the interim Bangsamoro government,” he told The Zamboanga Post newspaper.

Fear

Ebrahim also fears that he may not win should the elections push through and that is why there is a need to extend the term of the interim government.

“We are very concerned kasi ang tingin namin, nag-i-start pa lang kami. And then parang wala pa kaming tangible na accomplishment talaga na maipakita namin. So ‘yun ang challenge sa amin, na kung mag-eleksyon, baka sabihin ng mga tao, wala naman ginawa ito,” he said in a podcast interview on November 13 with journalist Christian Esguerra on Press One.

He said new transition schedule might not be enough to complete systemic and structural changes in the region, including the crucial decommissioning of combatants under the peace deal’s normalization process. “Kasi nga nakita natin na kailangan talaga na meron. Halimbawa, mabuti kung talagang siguradong manalo kami (in 2022 elections). Pero walang assurance ‘yun kasi anybody’s game na pagka-eleksyon na. Pag hindi, ano mangyayari dun sa other aspects ng negotiation?” he told Esguerra.

Esguerra’s report said BARMM was allocated a much bigger budget compared with the old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Its block grant is worth P65.3 billion in this year’s appropriations law, on top of a P10-billion special development fund it was supposed to receive. (Mindanao Examiner)

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