Marcos urges MNLF, BARMM stakeholders to ensure credible polls

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Monday called on the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and other stakeholders of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to ensure the peaceful and credible conduct of polls next year.

''I call on the MNLF and other stakeholders of BARMM to ensure a peaceful, orderly, and credible conduct of the 1st Bangsamoro Elections next year,'' Marcos said during the opening ceremony of the 2024 National Peace Consciousness Month and the commemoration of the 1996 final peace agreement with the MNLF.

Marcos said the upcoming BARMM elections ''is an important reminder not only of the democracy that empowers us to mold our destinies but also of the visionaries who paved the way for the freedom that we all relish today.''

He said the election of the members of the parliament next year would formalize and operationalize BARMM’s part in the national government.

''And that is a very, very important landmark; a very, very important part of our peace agreement. This — that will be the day when we can say that we have recognized the autonomy of BARMM and BARMM has also found – has also recognized its membership into the fold of society within the national government,'' he said.

The BARMM will hold parliamentary elections on May 12, 2025, coinciding with the midterm legislative elections.

It will be the first BARMM parliamentary elections. Provinces that comprise BARMM are Sulu, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Tawi Tawi.

In relation to this, Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. expressed gratitude to Marcos for his unwavering resolve to uphold the peace and transform the lives of former combatants, including their families and communities.

''His commitment is especially important as we approach the first ever Bangsamoro election next year,'' Galvez said in a separate press briefing.

''And in line with this, the President’s guidance, we will endeavor to ensure the peaceful, orderly and credible conduct of this historical election,'' he added. —KG, GMA Integrated News