MNLF Veterans, Non-Moro Governors Pledge Support for Macacua-led BARMM
COTABATO CITY — Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) veterans and two Christian governors in neighboring Region 12 have pledged support for the peacebuilding and development initiatives of the newly mandated Bangsamoro government under Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua.
The expressions of support came on Saturday, October 31, a day after members of the 80-seat Bangsamoro Parliament elected Macacua as Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Among those welcoming his continued leadership was Gerry Salapuddin, a former chairman of the MNLF’s Basilan Revolutionary Committee who was wounded three times in encounters with government forces during the 1970s Moro uprising.
Salapuddin said he and other aging MNLF veterans were pleased with Macacua’s nomination, describing it as an opportunity to advance inclusive governance and address the needs of communities across the autonomous region.
“Our wish now is for Chief Minister Macacua to keep his promise to ensure inclusivity in governance of BARMM, one that shall involve the Muslims and Christian and indigenous non-Moro communities in the region,” Salapuddin said.
He also expressed the veterans’ willingness to support the new administration’s development programs, urging Macacua to consider establishing an office that would serve as a direct link between his government and former MNLF fighters.
Salapuddin said such an office could help bring attention to the concerns of veterans who helped lead the Moro struggle for self-governance in the 1970s.
Several other MNLF veterans, including Hatimil Hassan and Muslimin Jakilan, and former combatants bearing disabilities from wartime injuries, also voiced hopes that the Macacua administration would introduce humanitarian programs for aging members of both the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Another MNLF veteran, Hussein Mohammad, the former mayor of Omar town in Sulu, also pledged support.
The two Moro liberation fronts have separate peace agreements with the national government. Both have also participated in the administration of BARMM ministries and support agencies since the establishment of the autonomous government in 2019.
Their participation continued under the interim parliament until the region held its first parliamentary elections on September 14, producing 80 elected lawmakers.
Macacua, himself a former Moro revolutionary fighter, was among the officials who served in the interim parliament before the elections.
Non-Moro governors extend support
Support for the new Bangsamoro leadership also came from two non-Moro governors in Region 12: Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza of Cotabato province and Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. of South Cotabato.
Both governors have Moro communities among their constituents and separately congratulated Macacua after he secured the backing of 51 of the 80 members of the Bangsamoro Parliament during its inaugural plenary session on Friday.
Taliño-Mendoza, who chairs the multi-sectoral Regional Development Council 12, said her administration and local government officials would continue supporting the security, humanitarian and development programs of BARMM, particularly in the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area (SGA).
The SGA consists of eight municipalities with 63 barangays located within Cotabato province but placed under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro government.
Taliño-Mendoza said the communities have longstanding family, economic and commercial ties with neighboring Moro communities in Cotabato, making continued cooperation between the provincial and regional governments important.
“Residents of the SGA are related by blood to Moro villagers in the municipalities in our province. They are connected to us in terms of commerce and trade. We will support the peace and development initiatives in the area of the now duly-mandated BARMM parliament,” she said.
Macacua welcomed the governor’s commitment, recognizing Cotabato province’s continuing assistance to residents of the SGA despite the area’s transfer to BARMM jurisdiction.
“Her administration has not stopped from extending essential services to residents of the Bangsamoro SGA in her province, which has 63 barangays now grouped into different BARMM municipalities, despite being no longer under their provincial government,” Macacua said.
PHOTO: Long before the September 14 Bangsamoro elections, Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza and Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua had already been working together on peacebuilding and development efforts in the province’s Special Geographic Area (SGA). (John Unson)
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