BARMM Interim Chief Minister Mohagher Iqbal (Photo by ABUBAKAR GUIAMAN / Contributor)
SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao, Philippines — Without fanfare, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chair and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim went inside Simuay Junction Central Elementary School here at 4 p.m. on Monday to cast his vote.
Ebrahim, who turns 74 next week, voted for candidates for elective posts for the first time in his life.
His first participation in a democratic political exercise of the country was in 2019, to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the charter of the BARMM which is a product of the 17-year peace negotiations between the MILF and the government that ended into the landmark Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in 2014.
After successfully inserting his ballot into the vote-counting machine and getting his vote receipt, Ebrahim slipped into the crowd and left.
Like Ebrahim, BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, who was once the MILF’s chief peace negotiator, cast his vote on Monday at Bungawan Elementary School in his hometown of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
Fighters
Like Ebrahim and Iqbal, most other MILF leaders would have voted for president and other local elective posts for the first time in their life, in keeping with revolutionary policy of not engaging in the state’s political processes until it has concluded a peace deal with the government.
Ebrahim was barely 20 when he joined the Moro revolutionary movement and became a full-time fighter of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), foregoing his goal of becoming a civil engineer. He was among the second batch of Moro rebel leaders, known as the “Top 300,” who were trained in Sabah, Malaysia.
He first led a guerrilla zone in Maguindanao, rising to become the MILF’s vice chair for military affairs and chief of its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).
Since becoming chair in 2003 after the death of MILF founding chair Salamat Hashim, Ebrahim led the MILF into a peace deal with the government, and then its transition into a democratic political force. He now heads the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the MILF’s electoral arm.
Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim (Photo by TAHER SOLAIMAN)
As part of the 2014 peace deal, the BIAF had to be decommissioned and its weapons “put beyond use.” In keeping with its commitment to become a democratic force, the MILF’s members registered as voters, and Ebrahim was enlisted in time for the 2019 plebiscite to ratify the BOL.
During the plebiscite, some 40,000 first-time voters among MILF members were able to cast their ballots. More had enlisted in the continuing registration of the Commission on Elections.
Endorsements
Participating in the elections for the first time, the UBJP had endorsed candidates for national and local elections, in the hopes of helping elect leaders whom they trust to continue the Bangsamoro peace process and commit to the full implementation of signed peace agreements, whether with the MILF or MNLF.
In Lanao del Norte, MILF field commander Abdullah Macapaar, who is also a member of the interim Bangsamoro parliament, made the rounds, together with the police and military, in several hinterland communities to help maintain peace and order in the poll conduct.
Macapaar, known as Commander Bravo, checked on reports of flying voters coming from Christian areas in Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental.
In Matungao town, Macapaar appealed to political camps to stop any plans to bring in flying voters in order not to create tensions that could lead to violence. Macapaar later voted in Marawi City.
—WITH REPORTS FROM RICHEL V. UMEL
RELATED STORIES
MILF starts shift to non-armed political party with UBJP
Duterte OKs postponement of first BARMM elections to 2025