DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 3 April)—The Philippine office of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), a United Kingdom public body dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world, has called for the conduct of a credible and peaceful historic parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro region in May 2025.
The Westminster Foundation for Democracy – Bangsamoro gathers members of civil society organizations and media practitioners in a conference dubbed “BARMM Multistakeholder Forum: The Role of Civil Society and the Media in Defending Election Integrity” in Davao City on 27 March 2024. MindaNews photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO
Judy Ann Lubiano, WFD-Bangsamoro program manager, urged voters in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to cast their sacred votes in the parliamentary polls, the first for the Bangsamoro region and in the entire country.
The 80-member Parliament that would be elected in May 2025 is composed of 40 party representatives, 32 single-district representatives and eight sectoral representatives.
The regional election will be held simultaneously with the national and local elections. The filing of certificates of candidacy for the May 2025 polls is six months away, in October 2024.
The BARMM is the only region with a parliamentary system of government in a country with a highly-centralized presidential system.
Lubiano said that regional political parties need to clearly spell out their platforms or policies they will push once in power to help voters decide on their choice.
“We want to get to that point where people vote not based on personalities or name recall, but on account of our values aligning with the values of a specific political party,” she said.
Under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, a regional political party must have at least 10,000 members as a requirement for accreditation.
The WFD Wednesday last week gathered members of civil society organizations and media practitioners in a conference here dubbed “BARMM Multistakeholder Forum: The Role of Civil Society and the Media in Defending Election Integrity.”
Electoral violence, vote buying and disinformation emerged in the discussions as among the major threats to the conduct of a credible parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro region.
Member of Parliament Suharto Ambolodto said during the forum that voters in the Bangsamoro region will not only vote for parliament members but also provincial governors, congressional representatives, mayors and other local officials in their respective localities.
He noted that voters in the region will not directly elect the Bangsamoro Chief Minister, but it will be the Members of Parliament who will select their leader.
“The Bangsamoro region is making history because for the first time, we will vote the Members of Parliament,” Ambolodto said.
He also called for the conduct of a credible, clean and peaceful parliamentary elections, as such reflects “the true will of the people.”
Since the Bangsamoro region was established in 2019, the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) or the interim Bangsamoro Parliament has been governing the BARMM.
The “Government of the Day” is led by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which dominates the BTA with 41 seats. Its interim Chief Minister is Ahod Ebrahim, popularly known by his nom de guerre, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the MILF chairperson.
The creation of the Bangsamoro region is the centerpiece of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which the Philippine government and the MILF inked after 17 years of peace negotiations.
The CAB recently marked its 10th anniversary, having been signed on March 27, 2014. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
