MILF leader, gov’t execs assure voters it is safe to vote

ILIGAN CITY — Despite the three explosions that rocked Lanao del Norte towns on the eve of the second plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said on Wednesday there were no security threats in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte provinces where people would ratify a law that would give them full autonomy in Mindanao.

Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim, chair of the MILF, however, said security forces in the six tows of Lanao del Norte and 67 villages in North Cotabato would still be on full alert.

“We don’t see any tension as of now but maybe on the part of our government security forces, they’re just making sure,” Murad said.

“The important thing (on our part is to ensure) that residents should be given the chance to vote according to their own choice and not because they’re being forced to,” Ebrahim said.

“It’s a democratic process. That’s what we need — no manipulation, no intimidation,” he added.

In some Lanao del Norte areas, residents have evacuated for fear of their safety but police officials said they were trying to ensure their safety.

“The police and army are always there to protect the citizenry. They shouldn’t be scared,” said provincial police commander Senior Supt. Leopoldo Cabanag.

He said rumors about trouble during the plebiscite “definitely, will not happen.”

The spokesperson of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said troops were deployed in Lanao del Norte to ensure a peaceful plebiscite today, Wednesday, on the inclusion of the province’s six towns in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

READ: Despite blasts, Lanao Norte plebiscite a go – Comelec exec

Three blasts rocked Lanao del Norte on Tuesday afternoon, the eve of the plebiscite but authorities said there were no casualties.

James Jimenez said although they did not expect serious security problems in Lanao del Norte as well in North Cotabato, the presence of soldiers and police in polling centers was meant to ensure voters of their safety.

Jimenez said MILF members arrived in Lanao del Norte but they were unarmed and they said they came to support the holding of the historic plebiscite.

“It’s (within) their rights,” Jimenez said.

“Police and the military were there to ensure if there will be a problem later during the day they can control the situation,” he added.

Around 700,000 registered voters were expected to troop to polling places in Lanao del Norte (except Iligan City) and the villages in seven towns in North Cotabato.

“Yesterday there were reports about the fear of teachers that will serve but they show up. We have areas where we have a strong presence of police and military,” Jimenez said.

The plebiscite follows the Jan. 21 vote, which ratified the BOL creating the BARMM, the final step in the 2014 peace agreement between the government and the MILF.

The law aims to give the impoverished Muslim south an expanded autonomous area, offering self-determination to the nation’s four million Muslims by empowering them to elect their own parliament.

The law would also give the people in parts of southern Philippines that have Islamic majority control over many local government functions, including taxation and education, and would allow Muslim Filipinos to incorporate the Sharia law into their justice system. /lzb