DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 26 May) – A young Dabawenyo who attended the Bangsamoro Beyond the Transition Period forum over the weekend, thanked representatives of four regional parliamentary political parties for “shar(ing) their visions on the future of the Bangsamoro” before asking: “Why should Mindanawons from the other parts of Mindanao care about the upcoming Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections?”
He specifically wanted to hear first from the representative of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the political party organized by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014, after the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro by the Philippine government and the MILF on March 27 that year.
The UBJP sent Yul Adil V. Olaya, one of its nominees for settler communities representative, to represent the party at the forum that capped the 3rd Mindanao Book Festival organized by MindaNews in partnership with the Ateneo de Davao University.
“(Your question) strikes me very personally kasi ang dating sa akin, bakit ako …. nagmamalasakit sa Bangsamoro na pwede naman po ako pumunta sa iba?” (Your question strikes me very personally because why should I care about the Bangsamoro when I could go elsewhere?), Olaya said.
“If we see the whole country as one body, the Bangsamoro is that part of the body that is in pain. So, nararapat lang po talaga” (So we should really care).
“Whatever happens in the Bangsamoro, mararamdaman at mararamdaman po ang bansa” (the entire nation will feel it).
Olaya hails from Leyte and was studying to be a missionary when he came to Mindanao in 2000 during the all-out-war waged by the Estrada administration against the MILF. He was among those who helped Fr. Bert Layson in the parish of Pikit, North Cotabato where thousands of Moro and Catholic residents evacuated to the parish gym. He has since settled in Mindanao.
He is the Chief of Curriculum and Learning Division of the Directorate General for Basic Education of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education. A teacher by profession, he has been working in the field of education and grassroots peacebuilding, particularly in the BARMM.
Lawyer Omar Sema of the Bangsamoro Party (BaPa), a Member of Parliament who served as Deputy Speaker for several years, was born and grew up in Laoag City in Luzon with a father in Mindanao who was then a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) – Muslimin Sema – the President of BaPa.
Sema said many children grew up without fathers and mothers because of the armed conflict. “And here in the Bangsamoro, you would understand that the theater of war is not only in the BARMM, it’s practically the entire Mindanao … because the MNLF was claiming Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan as part of the Bangsamoro Republic,” he said.
“So the people of Mindanao should really care about these elections because there are two fronts that are involved here, two liberation fronts (MILF and MNLF) that have agreed to abandon the armed struggle and pursue their aspirations to the democratic process,” Sema added.
He invited the public to “guard the elections.” Guard the elections because if this election works, it can work in the entire Philippines. All other armed struggles, all other struggles occurring in the Philippines may resort to the democratic process as far as we are confident in this process right now. This is the only way forward,” he said.
Sema noted that this is not only because of the peace agreements. “The peace agreements are only the bridges to this because these liberation fronts have signed it already, these agreements. But for the longest time, the armed struggle is no longer beneficial for our people. Many people have been displaced and so let’s give this democratic process, this first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections, a chance,” he said.
Ustadha Nur-Ainee Tan Lim, Deputy BARMM Minister of Social Services and Development, and one of 2025 awardees of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Award reminded the audience that one of the most significant events that happened a few years ago was the Marawi siege, which affected the reset of Mindanao. “That tells us that our destinies are intertwined. And if you remember, when that event happened, the entire Mindanao was put under martial law,” she said in the forum that was scheduled on the 9th anniversary of Day 1 of the Marawi Siege.
She explained that cross-border economic and resource sharing are “very much entrenched as our identity as Mindanao,” adding that in the Bangsamoro region, “we are also offering hope to the ones who are living outside of it.”
“We are trying to revolutionize politics in our autonomy. We want to show that good governance, ethical governance, and moral governance is possible. We are here to show that our model is something that can be replicated, that can inspire, and most especially for those outside looking in, can be a source of inspiration to all,” said Lim, youngest daughter of MNLF founding chair Nur Misuari and Desdemona Tan.
Lim said she hopes those outside the BARMM “would be as interested about our history” as she reminded the audience who are the Bangsamoro. “We are the ones who never surrendered to foreign powers. We are the ones who made sure the Philippines remains the sovereign country that it is. And now it is your chance to share in our history that we are rewriting today so that all of us can benefit. Because if Bangsamoro is successful, the whole Philippines will also be successful.”
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, Member of Parliament and spokesperson of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP), said: “You should care because part of the taxes you pay to the national government goes to the Bangsamoro — 5% of internal revenue taxes plus if you are engaged in importation, exporting goods, 5% of cost of duties also goes to the Bangsamoro. So your money goes into us too. You should care who governs and who governs better in the aftermath of the elections.”
Sinarimbo reminded the audience of the importance of remembering that the Bangsamoro’s incorporation into the Philippine Republic, “was never legitimized. We were not part of the 1935 Constitution. None of us represented the Bangsamoro in that historic convention that drafted what would ultimately become the Constitution for the whole of the Republic.”
He also reminded the audience that the Moro people “were not part of the 1898 Declaration of Independence. So no document really incorporated legally the Bangsamoro into the Philippine Republic.”
“If there is one that we can now say is a document that at least came from us and mutually agreed, it is this Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro. So it legitimizes the inclusion of the Bangsamoro into a wider Philippine Republic. The result of how we transition from that agreement into institutions that are able to absorb temporary shocks of election would be important to the Republic. Importante ho yun na mapunta na tayo sa mas regular. Otherwise, we will always go back to fighting and then transition period for a never regularized resolution of tensions within,” Sinarimbo said.
He also stressed the significance of the CAB as the “single globally more important peace agreement signed after the agreement Nepal.”
“We have never had an agreement as substantial as this one after the agreement in Nepal. So everyone is interested in how do we finally fulfill the provisions of the CAB that includes regular elections first. And that’s the first election that we will have. So there would be lessons to learn both within the country and even outside for those interested in resolving conflict more peacefully. So I think it’s important not just for us, it’s important for other countries who are facing the same internal conflict that needs resolution peacefully,” Sinarimbo added.
The forum’s facilitator, Gus Miclat, Executive Director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) summed up the answers of the panelists using the Tagalog saying that “ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay dama ng buong katawan” (the pain in the little finger is felt throughout the body.”
The IID was among civil society organizations that accompanied the long journey of the Bangsamoro peace processes. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
