POLITICAL REALIGNMENT. Bangsamoro Local Government Minister Jordan Bayam (middle) and Regional Parliament Member Naguib Sinarimbo huddle with Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao (right) after he filled out a membership form for the Bangsamoro Federalist Party and took oath as its new member in Cotabato City on Friday, June 12, 2026. (John Unson)
A political realignment is quietly reshaping the region’s balance of power as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) prepares for its first parliamentary elections in September.
Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao, one of the region’s most influential local executives, formally left the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Friday. He joined the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP), bringing with him key city officials in a move that underscores the fluid alliances emerging ahead of the historic vote.
The mass oath-taking ceremony, held at a function hall in Cotabato City’s uptown district, drew a diverse group of Muslim and Christian leaders. Joining Matabalao were Vice Mayor Johair Madag, who presides over the city council, and council members Anwar Malang, a human rights lawyer; veteran broadcaster Florante Formento; Abdillah Lim; and Datu Raiz Sema.
Their decision marks one of the most significant defections yet from the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the MILF’s political arm, as BARMM transitions from revolutionary governance to parliamentary democracy. “I officially, politely resigned from my membership with the United Bangsamoro Justice Party to join the Bangsamoro Federalist Party,” Matabalao declared during the ceremony.
The mayor’s shift carries considerable electoral weight. Cotabato City, which serves as the administrative center of BARMM, encompasses 37 vote-rich barangays inhabited by Muslims, Christians and non-Moro indigenous Teduray communities.
Shifting Political Alliances
The political realignment is particularly striking given that Matabalao and Madag ran under the UBJP banner during the May 2025 local elections. But political alliances in the Bangsamoro region have proven increasingly pragmatic. During those elections, regional officials aligned with BFP leader Naguib Sinarimbo supported a different candidate for Cotabato City mayor instead of Matabalao.
Also joining the BFP were members of one of the Bangsamoro’s most prominent political families.
Datu Raiz Sema and his brother, Datu Zawawi Sema, the incumbent barangay chairman of Tamontaka, publicly pledged allegiance to the party. Their father, Muslimin Sema, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front’s central committee and the Bangsamoro labor minister, had given them his blessing, they said.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), once a rival revolutionary movement to the MILF, currently holds seats in the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament.
Parliamentary Elections Unprecedented
The Bangsamoro Federalist Party has emerged as one of the region’s fastest-growing political organizations. Alongside the MNLF-backed Bangsamoro Party, the Bangsamoro People’s Party founded by Basilan Governor Mujiv Hataman, and Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo, it is considered among the strongest of the 16 parties preparing candidates for the Sept. 14 parliamentary elections.
The parliamentary contest will be unprecedented. For the first time since BARMM’s creation in 2019, voters across the autonomous region will directly elect members of parliament tasked with steering the future of Muslim self-governance in the southern Philippines.
BFP’s rapid expansion has been fueled in part by defections from UBJP. Tomanda Antok, the party’s president and a sitting member of parliament, administered Friday’s oath-taking.
Matabalao and Madag said they were drawn to the BFP’s emphasis on inclusive governance and interfaith cooperation. They cited the party’s commitment to sustainable development through solidarity among Muslim, Christian, and indigenous communitiesโa message designed to resonate in a region shaped by decades of armed conflict and political fragmentation.
More than half of BARMM’s 117 mayors, along with numerous provincial officials from Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, have reportedly joined the BFP during a series of political caucuses held in Marawi and Zamboanga cities in recent weeks.
Naguib Sinarimbo, chairman of the BFP’s Cotabato City chapter and a member of parliament, framed the party’s expansion not as a campaign against its rivals but as an effort to build consensus in a diverse region. “All of them fully understood that as a political party, we don’t have animosity with other political parties in the Bangsamoro region,” Sinarimbo said. “We are promoting cultural, religious and political solidarity among the communities in the autonomous region.”
BARMM approaches a defining democratic milestone. The shifting loyalties and political realignment of Cotabato City’s leadership offer an early glimpse into the alliances that could shape the autonomous region’s next chapterโone where ballots, rather than battlefields, determine political power.
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