BARIRA, Maguindanao del Norte (MindaNews / 16 April) — “Very, very successful and extraordinarily peaceful. We didn’t expect that,” Commission on Elections chair George Erwin Garcia said of Saturday’s plebiscite to ratify the creation of eight towns among the 63 villages in North Cotabato that are part of the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“Almost 82% of the voters turned out. 81 point something, yeah. And only 273 voted no. Almost 73,000 elected to say yes,” he told reporters during his visit at the the 1st Marine Brigade here late Monday afternoon.
Voters in Sanggadong Elementary School in Kabacan, North Cotabato on Saturday, 13 April 2024, await their turn to vote in the plebiscite to ratify the creation of eight new towns in the Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Photo courtesy of CCCA-Early Response Network.
Asked if he was as optimistic about next year’s first election of the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament as other groups are based on statements issued after the polling, he said the parliamentary election is different from a plebiscite “but I hope the preparation will be the same. But of course, I gave the challenge to our Bangsamoro, to the Chief Minister. We said it’s not enough. Of course, the 73,000 voted for the law, but they need to prove that they are right in voting for the law. And of course, they need to prove the 273 that they are wrong in voting no.”
The eight new towns created under Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts 41 to 48 and ratified during the plebiscite on Saturday are Kadayangan, Kapalawan, Ligawasan, Malidegao, Nabalawag, Old Kaabakan, Pahamuddin and Tugunan.
He said the plebiscite in the SGA was “just the beginning.”
“There are challenges like creating a province. And number two, there are promises that need to be fulfilled,” Garcia said.
Creating a province is an act of Congress. The Bangsamoro Parliament can create towns but it is Congress that has authority to create provinces.
“But hopefully, our Bangsamoro parliamentary election will be the same. Although we know that it’s different. Yes, of course. Because there are politicians.
There are politicians who have been in the parliament for a long time. And of course, the people in Bangsamoro will fight for it. That’s why our focus is really here in Bangsamoro,” he said.
The BARMM is presently governed by the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) appointed by the President. Then President Rodrigo Duterte appointed the first BTA in February 2019 for a three-year transition period that would have ended on June 30, 2022 but a law was passed rescheduling the first election to May 2025, effectively extending the transition period to June 30, 2025, when the first elected officials take over.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed the second BTA in August 2022. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
