COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 2 Aug)—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) will not endorse or nominate any of their members who will be joining the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan local elections.
Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua, the current appointed governor of Maguindanao del Norte and subsequently the secretary-general of the party, said they will not issue certificates of nomination to any of their members.
“Though we cannot stop them from joining this political exercise, we cannot openly support them. We will stay non-partisan,” he said during the Maguindanao del Norte stakeholders’ summit for unity and peace attended by local government officials, security sectors and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at the Cotabato City Mall on Tuesday.
The summit—organized by the newly installed province with the participation of the 6th Infantry Division, 1st Marine Brigade, Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, and the Comelec—aimed for the peaceful conduct of local elections in the barangays and the youth sector.
The mayors and their representatives who attended have committed to help the authorities in bringing out a peaceful and clean elections on October.
They presented a total of 154 long and short firearms from their communities as their share in the campaign to surrender loose firearms in the region.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, Minister of the Interior and Local Government of the Bangsamoro region, appealed to the local chief executives to remain non-partisan in the upcoming barangay and SK elections.
He advised mayors not to get involved, and instead help so the people can vote freely. “We have to ensure that this will be credible and free from violence,” he added.
Matanog Mayor Zohria “Jo” Bansil-Guro said they will seek assistance from their religious and traditional leaders once aspirants will file their candidacies.
“As of now we can’t say so, but when we can finally learn [who will be competing in the election], we will take measures to prevent tensions with the help of our elders and religious advisers,” she said.
Earlier, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim, who is MILF chairman and UBJP head, announced that the party will stand as non-partisan in the October elections.
“We will not participate officially as UBJP party but those brethren who want to express their rights to influence their brother’s attempt will be [on their own],” Ebrahim said in an interview.
Meanwhile, the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) has reported to the summit that they will deploy 13,000 personnel, along with the Philippine Army and Philippine Marines, who will watch over security in the upcoming elections for the 2,500 polling precincts in the region.
Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, PRO-BAR regional director, said that 900 police personnel will be assigned in Maguindanao del Norte.
In his security briefing, he said that for this year, there have been five incidents of killings of barangay officials in Maguindanao del Norte—three barangay chairmen and two councilors.
Based on police statistics, at least three persons are getting killed every two days or a ratio of 1.6 killed person per day in the region related to murder or homicide.
The region has tallied 340 killings as of July 31.
In Maguindanao del Norte’s police crime data last year, the highest incidence of killing was monitored in Datu Odin Sinsuat with 17 deaths, Sultan Kudarat with seven deaths, and Parang with three deaths.
“In last year’s figure, if you are looking at the national election, a total of 86% of the whole Bangsamoro region was categorized as hot spots and election concerns.”
Nobleza added that among the key concerns they are focusing now are the private armed groups and security personnel of candidates and incumbent officials who are under threat.
“Loose firearms are the major target because firearms in the hands of wrong people will lead to complications, sabotage, and other violence. We will also focus on private armed groups to be tapped by unscrupulous politicians to do the so-called dirty works like harassment of opponents, extortion or even assassination,” added Brig. Gen. Eric Macaambac, commander of 1st Marine Brigade.
Authorities are closely watching over 7,000 loose firearms from several private and armed groups in the region, he added. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
