A quote card circulating on social media that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)-led transition government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) does not anymore need to talk with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. – because he is allegedly difficult to deal with – is fake.
The pronouncement was attributed to BARMM spokesperson Naguib Sinarimbo, who is also the Bangsamoro Minister of the Interior and Local Government.
The quote card states: “Noon pa man kahit na nasa senado pa lang itong si BBM ang hirap ng kausapin pagdating sa BBL noon kaya ngayon hindi natin kaylangan makipag usap sa kanya.” (Even when BBM was still in the Senate for the discussion of the BBL, he’s difficult to deal with. That’s why we don’t need to talk to him now.)
BBM means Bongbong Marcos, who won the presidency with at least 31 million votes during the May 9 elections. On the other hand, BBL stands for the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which Marcos, then a senator in 2015, rejected in its “present form.”
The late former President Benigno Aquino III (2010 to 2016) lobbied hard for the passage of the BBL but failed. During the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte (2016 to 2022), Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM, popularly known as the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), was passed that paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro region. The BOL was anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which the government and the MILF signed in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
Sinarimbo, also the deputy secretary general of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the MILF’s political party, described the malicious quote card as fake news.
“This is a desperate attempt by trapos (traditional politicians) in Maguindanao to portray me and the MILF and its political party as anti-BBM and draw the ire of the President against us so they can further their evil cause of spoiling the peace and capturing positions in the BARMM via appointments during the transition,” Sinarimbo, a lawyer, told MindaNews.
The fake quote card was posted on Facebook supposedly by local online news outfit Bangsamoro Media Productions (BMP), which has close to 150,000 followers. BMP condemned the circulation of the quote card, and issued a “disinformation alert” to disown the false information.
The MILF-led Bangsamoro government continues to deal with the Marcos administration, contrary to the fake Facebook claim. Its senior officials recently met separately with Department of Defense officer-in-charge Jose Faustino, Jr. and Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos, Jr.
https://www.ndbcnews.com.ph/news/national-defense-exec-vows-support-mindanao-peace-process
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1178770
During the elections, the UBJP supported the presidential bid of former Vice President Leni Robredo, who placed second to Marcos.
Recently, a group describing itself as the “MILF Salamat Wing” surfaced, stirring controversy in the Bangsamoro region.
Abdulfatah Delna, the group’s ad hoc chair, said they are “not a breakaway group or that sort” but “bona fide and legitimate members and officials of the MILF and are trusted persons of the late [MILF] chairman Salamat Hashim.”
Hashim’s family, however, strongly condemned the use of their father’s name in sowing intrigue to divide the ranks of the MILF.
Delna’s group called on Marcos to appoint its officers and members to the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the interim body that governs the Bangsamoro government, stressing they supported the winning president during the May elections.
In asking that members of the MILF Salamat Wing be given seats at the BTA, Delna noted that the MILF’s UBJP supported the presidential run of Robredo.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. (Ferdinandh Cabrera and Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
(This fact-check piece was produced with the support of Internews’ Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator Project.)
