MILF’s Murad, Bravo, others in Bangsamoro authority take oath in Palace

Members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) took their oath of office before President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday in Malacañang.

Led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Murad Ebrahim, the 80-member BTA will govern the new Bangsamoro region until elections in 2022.

Duterte appointed Murad chief minister of the interim body.

The President also named to the body Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, to the BTA.

Macapaar in 2008 led deadly attacks on civilian targets in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte after the Supreme Court declared the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) unconstitutional.

The incumbent officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), on the other hand, will serve as members of the BTA until their term expires on June 30, 2019. The ARMM is currently led by Governor Mujiv Hataman.

In his speech, Duterte urged the BTA to work for the best interest and welfare, not only of the Bangsamoro people, but every Filipino who live in the region.

“I trust that you will oversee the transition period to the best of your abilities, especially in the decommissioning of firearms and former combatants,” he said.

He said the administration will use all its resources “to ensure better governance and inclusive political empowerment in this new Bangsamoro region.”

“My only hope is that we put to rest the bitter memories of the past so that we can build a new region that is bound, not by ethnic or religious affiliation, but by a common aspiration for peaceful coexistence among our fellow Filipinos,” the President added.

“We have fought, sacrificed and struggled for a government that would be reflective of our system of life and a governance that is suitable and acceptable to the Bangsamoro,” Murad said in a statement.

“Now, we must make that government work—one that is promotive, responsive and protective of the general welfare of the Bangsamoro, indigenous peoples and settler communities,” he added.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Carlito Galvez Jr. assured the government is behind the BTA as it embark on its mission of “bringing enduring peace and sustainable progress in the region.”

“Through the BTA, the Bangsamoro people shall have a stronger voice and have the power to chart their own course of development,” Galvez said.

In the same event, the President witnessed the ceremonial confirmation of the canvass results of the January 21 and February 6 plebiscite on Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

Duterte earlier lauded the ratification of the BOL, which is a product of the peace deal inked by the government and the MILF.

Two rounds of plebiscite were held for the ratification of the BOL and proposed inclusion of some areas in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte to the envisioned Bangsamoro entity that will replace the ARMM.

Plebiscite results showed the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will be composed of the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi as well as Marawi City, Lamitan City, Cotabato City and 63 villages in North Cotabato.

Under the law, the new region will enjoy  expanded land and water jurisdiction, fiscal autonomy, increased share in national government resources, among others. —NB/ LDF, GMA News