Murad to be the chief minister of Bangsamoro region
President Rodrigo Duterte is set to swear into office the 80-man Bangsamoro Transition Authority led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim on Friday.
The BTA will be the interim government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao until a new set of officials are elected by 2022.
Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF peace implementing panel, told the Manila Shimbun Murad will be the chief minister of the BARMM.
Under Republic Act No. 11054, otherwise known as the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the region is headed by the chief minister, with two deputies.
Iqbal said the two deputies would come from Lanao Region and the Island Provinces, such as Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.
Iqbal and Ghadzali Jaafar, who led the Bangsamoro Transition Commission that initially prepared the proposed Bangsamoro law, will also be members of the BTA.
The oath-taking of the BTA members, as well as the ceremonial confirmation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite canvass results, is scheduled at 3pm on Friday.
Plebiscites to ratify the BOL were held on January 21 and February 6 in ARMM, Cotabato City, Isabela City, North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte.
Isabela City and Lanao del Norte, particularly its six towns, failed to secure the "yes" votes for their inclusion in the BARMM.
Of the 80 BTA members, Iqbal said that 41 were recommended by the MILF, while 39 came from the national government.
He said that aside from the MILF, they also included representatives from the Indigenous People.
Iqbal refused to confirm if Abdurahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, is one of the BTA members.
Macaapar was one of the MILF commanders who led the attacks on civilian communities in Lanao del Norte in August 2008 after the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain, the supposed first peace deal between the government and the MILF.
Iqbal said representatives from the other factions of the Moro National Liberation Front, a former secessionist group in Mindanao where the MILF broke away, in the BTA would be named by the government.
The faction of Nur Misuari, founder of the MILF, did not participate in the crafting of the BOL.
In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Palace expects the BTA to lead BARMM effectively.
"Because you must remember that there have been complaints about the governance in the previous entities and hopefully this new one, given the fact that they have learned their lessons, I’m sure they will lead this time effectively. Otherwise, they will answer to the Muslim people," he said.
The Aquino administration had called the ARMM a "failed state" and "failed experiment" due to failure to deliver the social services for the people.
ARMM was created and initially led by Misuari shortly after the MNLF forged a Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the government in 1996.
When then President Benigno Aquino III assumed the presidency in 2010, he pushed for a comprehensive agreement on the Bangsamoro with the MILF.
When the Aquino administration was progressing on the peace process with the MILF, in September 2013, Misuari, who was claiming that the 1996 FPA was not fully fulfilled, allegedly masterminded the siege in Zamboanga City.
Misuari is facing charges of rebellion and for violating the "Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity" in connection with the Zamboanga siege.
However, Misuari is temporarily out of jail on the court's order after Duterte openly ordered the security forces not to arrest him.
Iqbal said a turnover ceremony between the ARMM led by Governor Mujiv Hataman and the BTA led by Murad will be held either before the end of February or early March.
The BTA will hold office in Cotabato City where the ARMM's seat of power is located.
Once the BTA is in place, 30 percent of the 30,000 to 40,000 MILF combatants will be decommissioned.
But Iqbal said that it would still take time before the decommissioning of the 30 percent could be finished since there will be validation to be conducted by the Independent Decommissioning Body.
The dismantling of the MILF combatants is expected to be completed once the first elected officials of the BARMM takes over. Celerina Monte/DMS
