FACT CHECK: BARMM, MILF leaders have not endorsed Isko Moreno

From MindaNews (Feb 25, 2022): FACT CHECK: BARMM, MILF leaders have not endorsed Isko Moreno (By FACT CHECK)

A quote card circulating on Facebook and claiming that Interim Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has endorsed the presidential bid of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is fake news.

Ebrahim clarified that the BARMM has not anointed Moreno, standard-bearer of Aksyon Demokratiko, the first presidential contender to visit the Bangsamoro government on Monday, 21 February.

During the meeting at the Bangsamoro government center in Cotabato City, Ebrahim called Moreno as “incoming president,” which was reported by various national media outlets.

“Hindi pa decided ang BARMM kung sino ang ie-endorse namin na candidate as president,” BARMM interim chief minister Ahod Ebrahim said during a public briefing on Wednesday, 23 February [Translation: The BARMM hasn’t decided yet which candidate it will be endorsing for president.]

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/2/23/BARMM-not-endorsing-any-presidential-candidate-yet.html

Ebrahim is also the chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which forged a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations. He is popularly known by his nom de guerre Al Haj Murad Ebrahim. The MILF, erstwhile the largest armed group in Mindanao, has formed its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), also in 2014.

Other Bangsamoro government and UBJP party officials also clarified that they have not endorsed Moreno’s presidential bid.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, Bangsamoro government spokesperson and UBJP deputy secretary general, noted their anointed one will be known after listening to the other presidential bets.

“The policy of the Bangsamoro government and our political party, the UBJP, is to welcome all presidential candidates who would officially visit the region and engage them as to hear and record their commitment on the continuation of the Mindanao peace process,” he said.

“We will only endorse after listening, hopefully, to all of them. And we will make sure that the best interest of the Bangsamoro people is placed at the center of the endorsement and (will be) made a priority of the candidate,” he added.

  https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=275643884685678&set=a.184782200438514

Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, also the chair of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel, said that Murad’s reference to Moreno as “incoming president” was not a formal endorsement.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/ebrahim-murad-meets-first-isko-moreno-february-2022/

An endorsement by BARMM leaders could bear weight in the chances of national candidates to win, considering the Bangsamoro region’s voting population of 2,172,959. In Maguindanao alone, which is the bailiwick of the MILF, the voting population is at least 652,000.

The false report that Ebrahim has anointed Moreno was posted, among others, on Facebook page City Inquirer, which generated at least 2,300 reactions, 172 comments and 68 shares.

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories.

https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2022/02/fact-check-barmm-milf-leaders-have-not-endorsed-isko-moreno/