Federalism favors BARMM, says Murad
Our position is consistent, we are supportive of Federalism because once federalism is in place, it would strengthen the Bangsamoro
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Murad Ebrahim on Thursday stressed that the group is “consistent” in its support of Federalism.
In a television interview, Murad said the MILF’s stance on federalism is absolute, noting that it would strengthen the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
“Our position is consistent, we are supportive of federalism because once Federalism is in place, the Bangsamoro can be part of the federal arrangement,” said Murad, who is also the interim chief of the Bangsamoro.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao is the expanded autonomous region that was established under a 2014 peace deal between Manila and the MILF.
To recall, President Rodrigo Duterte — the first chief executive from Mindanao — is pushing for Federalism to spread political power and government resources that have long been held in the capital, Manila and a charter-writing body drafted a federal constitution in 2018.
The President on Tuesday also met with Nur Misuari, the founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which was not party to the 2014 peace accord since it forged a separate settlement with the Philippine government in 1996.
Murad said the MILF was “open” to discuss the Bangsamoro leadership with elections coming in 2022.
In the same interview, Murad revealed that the appointment of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol to the Mindanao Development Authority may be up to the President but stressed that that the Agriculture chief is “very unpopular among the Bangsamoro people.”
“This is prerogative of the President, it’s an extension of his supervisory function. As far as Manny Piñol is concerned, he’s very unpopular among the Bangsamoro people because of his opposition to the Bangsamoro struggle,” Murad said.
“It is up to the President. We have no comment.”
Piñol will be the President’s “point person” in Bangsamoro, according to Murad, chairman of the MILF but he stressed that Piñol remains unpopular to residents in Bangsamoro due to his history of filing a petition seeking to nullify the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the MILF.