A call for action if sounded once may not gain traction. It could be the offshoot of a single event. But it deserves a second look when it is played up at various times during significant occasions. It could perhaps be a forewarning of future adversity if not addressed properly and timely. We see this premonition in the Muslim Autonomous Region.
Having said that, the situation in the Bangsamoro Region is sui generis. It is dissimilar to other regions in the country. The autonomy it is presently enjoying came at a very high price — the lives of martyred mujahideen and the tears of mothers and loved ones. Under these circumstances, it deserves no less than special attention from the national policymakers. Thus, when its leaders take a stand over a certain issue it should be taken seriously, or else government might regret ignoring it.
The postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in the region has been the subject of serious discussion by leaders of BARMM in various fora. It’s at the top of their agenda and discussion has been belabored continuously. In fact, they launched a wide media campaign to get the attention of the national policymakers and the Commission on Elections.
Foremost among the reasons advanced is the serious security problem in the area which might jeopardize any electoral exercise and result in failure to exact the people’s true will. It might even lead to election-related armed confrontations.
In the meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council in Maimbung, Sulu over the weekend, it was reported that the governors of BARMM had renewed their call for the postponement of the October election. In a position paper, they demanded the deferment “until after the former combatants of the MILF had fully given up their firearms under the peace accord decommissioning process.”
What spawned the request is the peculiar situation in BARMM. While in other areas in the country, anyone who is not a member of the defense or security forces of government who displays a firearm faces arrest, we see MILF militia flaunting their arms before the public with impunity. They invoke the decommissioning agreement between the government and the MILF to justify their actions.
The decommissioning process is part of the normalization mechanism agreed on by both the MILF and government peace panels. It was reported that around 30,000 to 40,000 MILF fighters need to be disarmed, but so far only about 19,000 combatants and some 2,000 firearms have been decommissioned.
In the meantime, the MILF has revved up on full throttle their political party, the Bangsamoro Justice Party, which, according to their political lieutenants, will participate in the forthcoming election even if the barangay election is theoretically a nonpartisan activity.
Reports have it they will either field their own candidates or support candidates who will lead the cadre of campaigners for the bigger and more important 2025 national and regional elections. They will test the ground to see how they will fare in the 2025 elections.
As we have said in past columns, under the present circumstances, an election cannot be conducted on a level playing field if one party is allowed to publicly display their firearms while other partisans would face sanctions if they bore arms during the election period.
With the barangay election only about four months away, there is no way to fully implement the decommissioning process. It’s a tedious procedure that needs ample space and time.
To complicate the situation, last Wednesday the residents of Marawi City woke up to a heavy firefight between government troops and rebels during which a top ISIS local commander was killed. This incident followed a series of skirmishes involving the same group in the town of Marogong, Lanao del Sur. Sleeper terrorist cells are teeming, safely ensconced in the hinterlands. On the same day, a police car was ambushed by armed elements in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, killing two policemen. An air of uncertainty is sweeping Morolandia brought about by the series of skirmishes.
Are these enough reasons to postpone the election in the BARMM? We say yes.