Retaining the current composition of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) might be needed to ensure a smooth transition period in the region amid the postponement of the region’s first elections to 2025, Bangsamoro leaders observe.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was originally scheduled to hold its first regional election next year. Yet on October 28, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) 11593 moving the polls to 2025. The law also grants Duterte the prerogative to appoint members of the BTA whose terms will expire on June 30, 2022.

“Kami sa BTA, we have already gained expertise and a learning curve on how to govern Bangsamoro for the last three years,” Maisara Dandamun-Latiph, the women’s sector representative at the BTA told the Collegian. “Sayang naman if hindi namin matutuloy yung nasimulan na namin.”

Resembling a parliamentary system of government, the 80-member BTA exercises its legislative and executive authority over BARMM. Its primary duty is to craft the six key Bangsamoro Codes and handle the internal affairs of Bangsamoro during its transition period.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law's (BOL) passage in 2018 and its ratification, through a 2019 plebiscite, paved the way for the formation of the BARMM. Per the BOL, BARMM was supposed to go through a three-year transition period to complete the two-track peace process composed of the political and the normalization track.

As part of the normalization track, the national government will provide a P1-million worth socioeconomic package to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants who turned over their arms. The MILF and the national government implement the normalization track while the BTA, standing as the interim regional government of BARMM, leads the political track.

Unlike its predecessor, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the BARMM has increased financial autonomy. The region would retain 75 percent of its collected revenue and has a yearly block grant, equivalent to 5 percent of the national revenue tax. It will also be governed by the Bangsamoro Parliament, composed of the district, political party, and sectoral representatives.

BARMM was supposed to elect its first parliament next year. But the BTA was not able to draw the parliamentary districts because the Electoral Code has yet to be written. The time and budget supposedly allocated for the peace process were diverted to the pandemic response instead, said Murad Ebrahim, the chief minister of Bangsamoro.

As the transition period is extended until 2025, the main challenge now for the BTA is to educate the Bangsamoro people on the new political system and to resolve the longstanding conflict in the region, Amirah Lidasan, secretary-general of the Moro-Christian People's Alliance, said.

Direct Intervention

But to enact the policies the Bangsamoro government seeks, they have no option but to gather support from local and national politicians and build consensus among the region's various ethnic groups and sectors.

In the MILF's bid to extend the Bangsamoro transition period, for instance, the group has found an ally with Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao, who authored and defended RA 11593 in Congress. The MILF has also successfully gained the approval of Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan on the extension, despite his early reservations, through meetings organized by Malacañang.

While Lidasan acknowledged the need for a longer transition period, she cautioned that politicians might use their support over the BARMM transition extension to wield their influence over the region. As the 2022 elections draw near, Lidasan hoped that the MILF would not let itself be controlled by the national government after Ebrahim pledged to back whoever presidential candidate Duterte will endorse.

“Nakikita naman natin yung basis kung bakit need mag-extend ng transition pero hindi natin mai-aalis yung mga worries na baka gamitin ito ni Duterte para sa pansariling interes niya,” said Lidasan who is also the third nominee of Bayan Muna Party-list in the 2022 elections.

This will not be the first time that a president gets to influence the Muslim autonomous region. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo supported her close ally, Andal Ampatuan Jr. in the 2005 regional gubernatorial elections. After Ampatuan was booted out of office due to the Ampatuan Massacre, President Benigno Aquino III handpicked his partymate, Rep. Mujiv Hataman of Basilan to finish Ampatuan's term.

“Ang problema kasi sa national government, masyadong state-centric yung approach nila sa Bangsamoro,” Darwin Absari, a professor from the UP Institute of Islamic Studies said. “May mga policies or tao silang ini-impose, then doon pilit isasalpak ang entire Bangsamoro community.”

Questions on Qualifications

If Duterte would select new BTA members, Absari urged the president to appoint more representatives from the Lumad, Christians, and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), too. After all, some seats in the BTA are reserved for representatives from the religious, youth, women, indigenous people's sectors.

But should Duterte decide to retain some members of the Bangsamoro government, Absari advised the national government and the MILF to renominate the BTA members based on their performance for the last three years.

“Nahirapan yung BTA on its early stages sa pagbuo ng policies kasi may mga appointees ng government na hindi masyadong acceptable for the MILF.” Absari said. “Na-overcome naman na nila yung differences sa huli, pero masasabi natin na may mga members na nag-perform talaga, and mayroon namang hindi.”

Before supporting the calls to extend the transition period, the Sulu governor had slammed the measure as "self-serving" on the part of MILF, saying that most members of the parliament were incapable of doing actual government work.

But for Dandamun-Latiph, holding a political post would not necessarily translate to effective governance in Bangsamoro. In fact, packing the BTA with political allies of the president or the MILF may only hinder the body in its agenda of delivering stability and lasting peace in the region.

“Alam naman natin na yung mga political leaders, may vested interests na sila. Kaming incumbent members, who were chosen for our expertise in working with various sectors in Bangsamoro, have only the interest of building a strong Bangsamoro government in mind," Dandamun-Latiph said.

Since it first sat in 2019, the BTA has already passed three of its six priority laws: the Administrative Code, which defined the BARMM's political structure; the Civil Service Code, which stated the human resource policies in the regional government; and the Educational Code, which formulated the curriculum to be taught in Bangsamoro schools.

Three priority measures remain pending: the Revenue, Local Government, and Electoral Codes.

Dandamun-Latiph admitted that there's still much work to be done, especially in ensuring that the measures enacted by the MILF-led BTA are felt on the ground.

“Three years is not enough in transitioning former rebels into civilians,” she said. “Yung talagang inaalagaan namin ngayon lalo after the Marawi Siege ay yung mga kabataan kasi if they are still seeing their elders na hindi maayos, they may take up arms.”

End Goal

For Absari, the BTA, MILF, and the national government all have a crucial role in ensuring that the BOL would deliver its promise of lasting peace in the communities, unlike ARMM, which was dubbed a "failed experiment" by Aquino III.

“Compared sa nauna (ARMM), nakikita natin na mas comprehensive yung vision ng MILF, kasi this time, tina-try nilang ma-reach yung lahat ng sectors sa Bangsamoro sa kanilang mga programa,” Absari said. “Sa mga consultations na ito nabuo na nila yung ‘blueprint’ or ang agenda nila bago umupo sa puwesto.”

In terms of the Bangsamoro government’s programs on social services and health, they were able to build BARMM’s first-ever drug rehabilitation center, and will soon be opening its first juvenile welfare center in the region. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the regional government was able to upgrade its testing facilities in Cotabato City and build isolation centers in Maguindanao despite a meager budget.

“For a newly established government, mabilis namang naka-respond ang BTA and MILF sa needs namin sa Bangsamoro,” Lidasan said. “Pero of course, may mga naririnig pa rin tayong hinaing on the ground kaya ang hiling natin sa BTA ay consciously i-address talaga yung grievances ng mga sectors.”

In September, some MILF fighters lamented that their former leaders "left them behind" in the peace process. Indigenous people rights coalition Loyukuan has also criticized the BTA for its inaction on several human rights violations committed on ancestral lands. Since January 2021, 11 killings have been recorded in Teduray and Lambangian communities in Maguindanao, per Loyukuan.

“Marami pa ring mga mamamayan na patuloy pa ring lumalaban dahil sa matinding militarization at injustice na kinahaharap nila,” Lidasan said. “Kaya if the government wants to resolve conflict in Mindanao, their programs should produce development for the people, [and] not for [the] multinational corporations na ine-engage nila.”

Barring any further extensions on the transition period, the first set of Bangsamoro members of parliament will be elected in 2025. But before that, the BTA hopes to finish the remaining priority legislative agenda, including the passage of the Electoral Code.

But to have smooth and orderly conduct of the 2025 Bangsamoro elections, Dandamun-Latiph reiterated that the president should consider retaining the current BTA as they have already gained a foothold in governing Bangsamoro in the last three years.

"We are appealing to the president that the Bangsamoro region, being one of the most unstable regions in the country, needs people who will put stability in the system. At this very crucial time, we in the BTA hope to continue what we have already started in our communities," Dandamun-Latiph said. ●