MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 7 Nov) – The Serbisyong Inklusibo – Alyansang Progresibo (SIAP) political party has fielded candidates for the eight district seats in Lanao del Sur for the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
SIAP supporters celebrate the filing of certificates of candidacy of their bets for the BARMM parliament in Marawi City on Wednesday (7 Nov 2024). MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
The eight candidates from SIAP filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) on Wednesday before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office stationed at the Lanao del Sur provincial capitol in Marawi City amid a short, rousing program by their supporters.
Lanao del Sur provincial election supervisor Ellis Miguel said besides SIAP, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) fielded three candidates.
“We expect the UBJP to register their candidates before the deadline on Nov. 12,” he told reporters.
SIAP, a political party under a coalition of traditional politicians called the Bangsamoro Grand Coalition (BGC), is opposing the UBJP led by interim Parliament Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, better known as Al Haj Murad Ebrahim as head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, for BARMM’s 80-seat parliament.
SIAP president and Lanao del Sur Vice Governor Mohammad Khalid Raki-in Adiong said he is confident that his party would have a good showing in next year’s elections as the political party has 30 mayors of the 39 municipalities in Lanao del Sur.
The SIAP candidates’ counterparts in Cotabato, led by former BARMM Minister Naguib Sinarimbo, filed their COCs on Thursday.
Traditional leaders from SIAP, Al-Ittihad-UKB Party, Salaam Party, and the Bangsamoro People’s Party have coalesced into the BGC.
Adiong said the BGC and SIAP are fielding candidates for all seats in the BARMM parliament despite the Sept. 9, 2024 Supreme Court decision to exclude Sulu province from the autonomous government.
Adiong said the loss of Sulu stunned the leaders of the BGC especially that Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, leader of the Salaam Party, was expected to run for the chief minister of the parliament.
“He was a great loss for the coalition but we decided to continue to field our candidates. We are not weakened,” Adiong said of Tan.
Adiong said they are also concerned about the bill filed by Senate President Chiz Escudero last Nov. 4 that sought to delay the BARMM elections until 2026.
Escudero, in filing his bill, said pushing back the elections to 2026 will allow officials time to address the structural adjustments needed after Sulu’s exclusion.
In the House of Representatives, Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez also filed House Bill no. 11034 to defer the BARMM elections to May 11, 2026.
Adiong said for now, they are closely monitoring developments of the bills filed by Escudero and Romualdez. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
