63 North Cotabato villages to join Bangsamoro region

MIDSAYAP, NORTH COTABATO – Sixty-three of 67 villages in North Cotabato that joined the February 6 plebiscite will become part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), final but unofficial results showed on Friday.

Results of the canvassing of the municipal plebiscite results were slated to be flown to Manila Friday for submission to the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers, which shall officially declare the results.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, secretary general of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said the result of the plebiscite in North Cotabato was a landslide in favor of the BARMM.

Sixty-three of 67 villages in North Cotabato would become part of the new Bangsamoro region, he said.

Sinarimbo thanked North Cotabato leaders, headed by Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, for backing the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which was ratified by a majority of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao during the first plebiscite on January 21.

Cotabato City also voted in favor of inclusion to the BARMM, which will replace the 28-year-old ARMM.

Based on the results from the municipal Plebiscite Board of Canvassers for Wednesday’s plebiscite, 22 villages in Pikit will become part of BARMM; 13 villages in Midsayap; 12 in Pigcawayan; seven in Carmen; seven in Kabacan; and two in Aleosan.

North Cotabato Board Member Kelie Antao, also the executive officer for North Cotabato of the MILF’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party, said the four barangays that did not make it to the BARMM included Galidan in Tulunan town, Balatican in Pikit and Pagangan and Lower Mingading in Aleosan.

The BOL was anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the final peace deal signed by the government and the MILF in 2014 after four decades of conflict that killed over 120,000 persons, including civilians.

Sinarimbo said the poll outcome would pave the way for long-term stability in North Cotabato, a province affected by the Moro rebellion.–with reports from Taher Solaiman/lzb