Palace: Majority of 80-man BTA most likely be from MILF

MANILA, Philippines — Majority of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) interim government, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), will most likely come from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Malacañang said Tuesday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made the response as President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law a measure postponing BARMM’s first regular elections from 2022 to 2025.

Under the new law, the President may appoint 80 new members of the BARMM’s interim government, the BTA, who shall serve up to June 30, 2025.

“Ang appointments, according to the law passed by Congress, is to be made by the President so hintayin na lang natin ang desisyon ng Presidente,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

(Appointments are to be made by the President, according to the measure passed by Congress. So let’s just wait for the President’s deicison.

“Siyempre, hindi naman puwedeng sabihin na balewala ang magiging boses ng MILF. Sigurado naman ako na mayorya ng mga maa-appoint ng Presidente ay manggagaling pa rin sa hanay ng MILF bagamat mayroon pa rin ‘yang appointees ang ating gobyerno,” he added.

(We cannot set aside the voice of the MILF. I am sure that the majority of those who will be appointed by the President will come from the MILF while there are appointees from the government.)

The BTA, led by MILF chief Murad Ebrahim, have pushed for the postponement of elections, saying they need more time to implement the Bangsamoro Organic Law, given delays in government programs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The BARMM, with a population of over 4 million people, was established in early 2019 after the BOL was ratified in a plebiscite.

The landmark measure was enacted in 2018, four years after a historic peace deal was signed between the Philippine government and the MILF.

JPV