Bangsamoro Prepares for a Historic First Parliamentary Election Amid Political Tensions

Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, Chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), cast his vote during the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law at a voting precinct in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao province, Philippines on January 21, 2019. On Monday, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the Philippines will hold its first parliamentary election since its establishment in 2018. This vote officially marks the conclusion of the transition period under the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), an interim regional government appointed in 2019.

The election represents a significant milestone in the Bangsamoro struggle, emerging from decades of armed conflict and negotiations between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government of the Philippines. The vote will test both the Philippine government’s commitment to the peace process and the MILF’s dedication to the democratic system.

BARMM is situated on Mindanao, the second-largest island in the Philippine Archipelago, covering the traditional territories of the Moro people, a native Muslim-majority group. Following the Philippines’ independence in 1946, the Moro people continued their pursuit of self-determination. Although the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created in 1989 to grant devolved rights, it largely failed to address local grievances due to limited autonomy in political and fiscal decision-making, prompting the MILF to continue its armed struggle.

Under President Benigno Aquino III, the ARMM was recognized as a failed experiment, leading to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro. Later, under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was promulgated, granting greater fiscal autonomy, a regional government, a parliament, and a justice system, culminating in the current parliamentary election.

The vote arrives amid heightened tensions in BARMM and internal divisions within the MILF, notably between factions loyal to Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and those supporting Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua. With concerns over historical issues like vote-buying, electoral violence, and fraud, along with the deployment of military forces by Manila, the future of the region remains filled with uncertainties as all parties bear the shared responsibility of preserving the peace.