MILF chair calls for BOL support in Christmas message

COTABATO CITY – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chair Murad Ebrahim issued an unprecedented Christmas message to call on the Bangsamoro tri-people to reconcile, bond together and ratify R.A. 11054 as a springboard for the dawning of inclusive progress and lasting peace in the region.

On the eve of Christmas, Ebrahim particularly greeted the Christians, who are described in Islam as the “People of the Book,” wishing them a joyous and enlightened holiday and to ponder on what is best for mankind.

“Sa mga kapatid naming Kristiyano, hayaan ninyong ipaabot sa inyo ang taimtim na memsahe at pagbati habang nagdiriwang ng pasko at nagnanais ng masaganang bagong taon,” he said in a video footage posted on his Facebook page.

“Sa nakalipas na mahigit apat na dekada, ang mga Muslim, Kristiyano at lumad sa Bangsamoro ay hindi nakaranas ng pangmatagalan at tunay na kapayapaan. Lahat tayo at nagkaroon ng mapait at masakit na karanasan,” he said.

“Ngayong naisa-batas na ang Bangsamoro Organic Law at sa darating na Enero 21 at Peberero 6 ay magkakaroon ng plebisito. Ako ay umaapela sa inyo na simulan na natin ang rekonsilasyon at gamutin ang masasakit na sugat ng nakaraan. Nasa atin na ang oportunidad upang masolusyunan ang mga political, sosyal at ekonomikal na problema na bawat isa sa atin ay nararanasan,” he added.

“Bigyan natin ang pagkakataon na maisaayos ang ating pamumuhay upang sa gayon ay makamit nating lahat ang kapayapaan na ating hinahangad. “Yes tayo sa BOL,” Ebrahim concluded.

Ebrahim’s message, his first so far in MILF history, came on the heels of unverified claims being made in social media that Christians and lumad people will be persecuted in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which is being proposed under the BOL, known as R.A. 11054.

If the BOL is ratified in the upcoming plebiscites, BARMM will be created to replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The new geopolitical entity will be initially administered by officials to be appointed by the President from among MILF nominees.

BOL prescribes for BARMM to absorb all component areas of ARMM, namely Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi provinces and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan, as well as the neighboring six towns in Lanao del Norte, 39 barangays in six North Cotabato towns and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela in Basilan.