Cotabato City mayor will not show up in city’s turnover to the BARMM, cites threats to her life

Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi. Photo from her Facebook page

COTABATO CITY – Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said she will ignore Tuesday’s historic ceremony when leaders of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will finally assume full control of this city almost a year after its people voted for its inclusion in the expanded autonomous region.

In a statement released to the media, Sayadi said she made the decision two days after receiving threats through text messages from anonymous sources. Sayadi claimed the same threats were also sent to her vice mayor Graham Dumama, city administrator Dr. Danda Juanday and other executives.

“One message in Filipino and in Maguindanaon said that chaos would erupt in the city if we continued our campaign against its inclusion in the BARMM,” said the mayor, who campaigned for “No” during the 2019 plebiscite and had questioned the results before the Supreme Court when the “Yes” votes won. “The sender (of the text messages) threatened to kill those who openly reject the BARMM. Another (text message) directly warned us they (would) bomb Cotabato City,” Sayadi said in the statement. “To the people of Cotabato City, if anything happens to me, to my family, or other officials of the city government and to our whole city in the coming days, you know now where to point your fingers.”

“I have always been vocal about my stand and despite all the threats that I have received, I have never faltered nor have I succumbed to fear and just went with the flow,” she added.

“Why are we going to threaten them?” BARMM spokesperson and Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo asked upon learning about Mayor Sahadi’s threats. “What gain can the MILF get out of (threatening them)? The plebiscite is done,” Sinarimbo said.

He told the Inquirer that whether Cotabato officials will attend the ceremony or not, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will have to make the final decision.

“They (city officials) were invited by the DILG,” Sunarimbo said, adding that Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana will be gracing the event.

Sayadi insisted that the result of last year’s plebiscite did not speak for the majority of the real Cotabateños.

“I know that this fight might cause me my life but as a leader, I know that what I do now will affect the future. So, I only have two choices: to be scared or to stand up,” Sayadi said in the statement.

The mayor’s statement, however, contrasted with the appeal made by BARMM Interim Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim who sought the support of city officials to come together and work for a peaceful and progressive BARMM.

In a statement released on Saturday, Ebrahim said BARMM was ready to accept Cotabato City to its fold and appealed to city officials to cooperate once the city’s supervision would be turned over to the BARMM.

Ebrahim acknowledged that the political process towards Cotabato City’s formal turnover was not easy.

“There were differences in opinions (and) principles and apprehensions that paint a stark contrast to the result of the historic plebiscite (last year),” said Ebrahim, also the chair of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in the statement. “Continuing the lines of division, however, will not help us in making our collective aspirations a reality. As such, there is a need for all of us to come together as one community dedicated to the city’s collective advancement,” he added.

The city which used to form a part of the Soccsksargen, or the region made up of South Cotabato, Cotabato City, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos will be turned over to BARMM on Tuesday after most of its citizens voted yes in a 2019 plebiscite that ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the law that created the expanded autonomous government to replace the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Results of the plebiscite for the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the BOL showed that 36,682 voted in favor of Cotabato city’s inclusion to the BARMM while 24,994 voted against it; or a difference of 11,688 votes.

More police and military have been deployed around the city to secure the turnover.

Halima Satol’s, Sayadi’s spokesperson, said no one from the city government will attend the turnover ceremony set at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15, inside the BARMM auditorium.

“It is business as usual,” he said. “Our Sangguniang Panlungsod members will have their session. It’s just another normal Tuesday,” Satol told the Inquirer.

/MUF