File Photo: Bangsamoro Wali Sheikh Khalifa Usman Nando together with BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim led the beating of the agong, signaling the opening of the fourth regular session of the interim Bangsamoro parliament. SHEILA MAE DE LA CRUZ
COTABATO CITY — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will attend the inauguration of the newly-appointed members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament next week, a top BTA official confirmed in an invitation distributed to parliament members.
BTA secretary-general Prof. Raby Angkal said Marcos would attend the inauguration on Sept. 15, after their inaugural session in the morning at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex in this city.
Angkal, who made the invitation through the authority of Parliament Speaker Pangalian Balindong, also urged BTA members to take the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or antigen test before entering the plenary session hall.
Misuari
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari confirmed joining the session, after a talk Sunday with Bangsamoro Interim Chief Ahod Ebrahim in his house in Davao City, a top official of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM) said.
Senior Minister Abdulraof Macacua of the BARMM told the Inquirer that Ebrahim, who visited the MNLF founder on Sunday, had invited Misuari to the inaugural. “Yes, I will be there, in sha Allah (God willing),” Macacua quoted Misuari to have responded.
Bangsamoro authorities have also beefed up its security forces for the visit of Marcos, Macacua said.
Unity
“The meeting (between Misuari and Ebrahim) also coincided with the call for unity of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the celebration this September of the national peace consciousness month,” Macacua added.
“The two children of Brother Nur who are now members of the BTA Parliament told their father that ‘we have two fathers now,’ you (Misuari) and the Chief Minister,” Macacua said. “As a response, Misuari said ‘yes’ and asked Ebrahim to take of them,” he added.
“The meeting of the two leaders centered on unity and solidarity and to jointly work for the best interest of the Bangsamoro region and its constituents,” Macacua said.
With a report from Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao
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