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Southerners support Government-MILF elections security agreement

John Unson - Philstar.com
Southerners support Government-MILF elections security agreement
Officials flash the peace sign after affixing their signature to the election security compact after a dialogue on its intricacies on April 29, 2025.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson

COTABATO CITY — Various sectors in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have expressed support for the election security cooperation agreement between the military, police, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), signed in Maguindanao del Norte on Tuesday, April 29.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. told reporters on Friday, May 2, that they will help the commander of the Western Mindanao Command, Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, and Brig. Gen. Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, monitor the enforcement of their Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the MILF, which outlined joint security initiatives during the May 12 elections.

“We in Lanao del Sur shall support that to the best we can,” Adiong, chairman of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Peace and Order Council, said in a text message to reporters in Cotabato City, the capital of BARMM. 

Nafarrete, representatives from PRO-BAR, the director of the Commission on Elections for BARMM, Ray Sumalipao, and two officials of the MILF, Butch Malang, member of the Bangsamoro Parliament, and Anwar Alamada, chairman of the front’s Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), forged the MOA during a dialogue at Barangay Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte last Tuesday.

Malang is the chairman of the MILF’s ceasefire committee. The MILF’s AHJAG, led by Alamada, has a counterpart in the government, under Police Major Gen. Ronaldo Bayting. It is the joint government-MILF AHJAG that settles security problems in areas covered by the front's final truce with Malacañang.

Nafarrete said the MOA complements the effort of the Comelec to ensure peaceful elections in far-flung areas under the jurisdiction of the WestMinCom and PRO-BAR.

Army Major General Donald Gumiran, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, and his counterpart in the 1st Marine Brigade, Brig. Gen Romulo Quemado, who has jurisdiction over Marine units in Maguindanao del Norte, were also instrumental in crafting the MOA, according to Nafarrete. 

Brig. Gen. Patricio Ruben Amata, 6th ID's assistant division commander, said they now have quick response teams, composed of soldiers, police and MILF representatives, that shall immediately resolve security problems that may affect the conduct of elections in remote barangays.

"We are optimistic that local government units will help us achieve the objectives of this MOA," Amata said.

The MOA also mentioned the need to mobilize the joint ceasefire mechanisms of the government and the MILF to help ensure the safety of election personnel operating in isolated areas on polling day.

Cotabato City’s vice mayor, Johari Abu, who is running for mayor, expressed appreciation for the election security initiatives led by the WestMinCom and PRO-BAR.

"That is an inter-agency, multi-sector security guideline we ought to help implement," Abu said.

Basilan Gov. Hadjiman Salliman and his constituent mayor in Lamitan City, Rhoderick Furigay, separately told reporters they will ask WestMinCom to provide barangay officials in their province copies of the agreement for wider dissemination.

“We don’t have a problem supporting that election-related security initiative. We in Basilan want safe and clean elections in our province,” Salliman said.

Radio reports in Central Mindanao on Thursday morning stated that Muslim and Christian religious leaders in BARMM had also pledged to cooperate with the election security compact of the WestMinCom, the police and the MILF.

BARMM

COMELEC

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