COTABATO CITY, Philippines โ With political temperatures rising ahead of the 2025 elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), leaders of the regionโs major political parties are urging their supporters to exercise restraintโparticularly in social media.
Officials from Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo (SIAP), the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the Bangsamoro Party (BAPA) of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have called on their respective members to avoid turning social media into a battleground for political mudslinging.
Appeal: Use Social Media for Platforms
The three parties, which each claim a base of over half a million supporters, are competing for elective positions across the Bangsamoro region, including in Cotabato City, Maguindanao del Norte, and Maguindanao del Sur. But amid the rivalry, their leaders are pushing for civility over confrontation.
In separate proclamation rallies held last week in Cotabato City, both SIAP and UBJP introduced their respective slates in highly secured events. Afterwards, leaders from both camps made a rare joint appeal: use social media to promote platforms and qualificationsโnot to hurl insults.
โPolitics must not set permanent barriers among us,โ said Naguib Sinarimbo, SIAPโs Cotabato City chapter head and a member of the Bangsamoro Parliament. โIt must foster oneness in our desire for good governance, peace, and development in the Bangsamoro homeland.โ
Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, who leads both BARMM and UBJP, went a step furtherโwarning members of the MILFโs Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, which he also commands, that online political attacks could lead to censure or expulsion.
Surprisingly, SIAP leaders went online themselves to set the tone. A day before the UBJPโs rally at a local university, Sinarimbo and others posted cordial messages welcoming their political rivals to Cotabato City.
The political maturity extended beyond the city. In Lanao del Sur, SIAP stronghold Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. urged his supporters to avoid inflammatory rhetoric in campaign sorties. Speaking at a proclamation rally in Lumbayanague town on April 7, he emphasized the need for calm and constructive discourse, especially in the provinceโs second district.
Landscape Becomes Complex
Even UBJPโs candidates avoided direct attacks against SIAP during their Cotabato City rallyโan apparent nod to the regionโs fragile peace and the tight-knit nature of Bangsamoro politics, where many leaders are bound by kinship or shared histories.
The landscape becomes more complex with the alliance between UBJP and the MNLFโs BAPA, led by Labor Minister Muslimin Sema. Their coalition fields common candidates across BARMMโs provinces and citiesโincluding Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato.
For Sema, the call for unity has its roots in history. โPolitics is just a passing thing,โ he said in a text message to reporters. โOur ancestors stood united against Spanish, American, and Japanese colonizers. That same spirit should inspire us to address underdevelopment through unity in governance.โ
The call for political sobriety across rival camps is a significant shift for a region long marked by conflict and factionalism. As BARMM continues its transition under the peace process, the challenge for these parties is not just to win electionsโbut to prove that democracy, peace, and mutual respect can coexist in the Bangsamoroโs evolving political culture.
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