DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party drew a huge crowd of 149,000 people into its general assembly of members and supporters here over the weekend.
UBJP president, BARMM Chief Minister Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim also swore in new party members during the assembly in which he said it may be a long way still to the May 2025 elections, but we will fight; and it will be a “fight between the seekers of change with you, and of those who seek more power from you.”
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal appealed for clean elections: “When the time comes in May 2025 that the Moro people will take part in charting the course of their future in some crucial decisions that they shall make.”
Iqbal said in the current leadership of the Bangsamoro government no one shall be left behind, “and this is the battle cry that we inculcate our children with in their struggle for education.”
Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof Macacua said peaceful elections will prevail for the UBJP which promotes “stillness in the midst of the braves; and firmness among cowards.”
Iqbal described as “inseparable” the MILF top leaders headed by Ibrahim who is backed by him and Macacua from the start of the latest wave of the Moro struggle some 50 ago.
“A brave fighter should remain still even when challenged to go to war, and must be firm even in cowardice not to run away from a good fight,” Macacua said in Maguindanaon dialect.
Macacua, known as Sammy Gambar as military chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said “in every military engagement (in a conflict), occupying the high ground is a vantage position.” In parliamentary struggle, he said, “people who struggle to occupy the high moral ground are better positioned.”
The Mindanao State University Maguindanao Campus opened the gates to the school ground for people gathered for the event held at the MSU Gymnasium. Their travel to the venue was marred by a long queue of vehicles and motorcycles, creating bottlenecks of traffic that held a long section of the national highway into standstill for hours.
Organizers said the assembly was called for party supporters and members from Central Mindanao provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), namely: Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, the cities of Cotabato and Marawi. However, they also expected attendees from Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.
Among attending supporters were thousands of Christians backing the UBJP membership of Members of Parliament Ramon Piang, Jr., a distinguished leader of the local Indigenous People’s (IP) Community, and Atty. Mary Ann M. Arnado as vice presidents for Settler Communities — Member of Parliament or MP– and Indigenous People (IP) — Ramon Piang, Jr. — not only Muslims are expected but also Christians and IPs.
The UBJP is led by Ahod B. “Al-Haj Murad” Ebrahim, as president; Mohagher M. Iqbal, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Central Mindanao; Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof Macacua, as secretary-general; Vice Matarul Estino, president for Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi with Zamboanga City ; Shiekh Ali Solaiman, Vice President for Northern Mindanao; Dr. Mohammad Yacob, Vice President for Southern Mindanao; Malik Caril, Vice President for Zamboanga Peninsula; Hussein Munoz, Vice President for Eastern Mindanao; Abdullah Hashim, Vice President for Youth; Aida Silongan, Vice President for Women.
The Bangsamoro region, established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), is composed of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages that voted “Yes” in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction. With the recent plebiscite at SGA, the BARMM now has eight new municipalities as residents voted “Yes”.
BARMM has 116 municipalities: 11 in Basilan; 39 in Lanao del Sur, 36 in Maguindanao; 19 in Sulu, and 11 in Tawi-Tawi. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital); Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur.
The UBJP also held its Regional General Assembly on February 17 at the Cotabato State University (CSU) Oval in Cotabato City, the BARMM capital.
The UBJP has also held people’s assemblies in Lanao del Sur, in Basilan, in Tawi-Tawi with huge crowds of members and supporters. Earlier this June, UBJP leaders traveled to the SGA for another political activity during which thousands of members took their oath before Mohagher M. Iqbal, executive vice president and vice president for Central Mindanao.