Respect Parliament's choice of leaders, OPAPRU chief says

COTABATO CITY — The choice of who will lead the Bangsamoro government belongs to the newly elected members of Parliament, Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Mel Senen Sarmiento said on October 7, framing that freedom as part of the region's right to self-determination.

In a statement, Sarmiento said the next stage of the peace process now rests with the parliamentary system established under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

“The gains of the peace process must now be carried forward through the parliamentary process,” he said. “Members of Parliament must be free to choose their leaders and determine who will lead the executive branch.”

Upholding that choice, he added, “honors the essence of autonomy and self-determination, and the trust that voters have placed in their representatives.”
Sarmiento, who also heads the Government of the Philippines Peace Implementing Panel, described the September 14 polls as “successful and relatively peaceful,” and said the government's task is to honor the people's mandate and safeguard the peace they have built.

He called on the incoming members of Parliament to set aside political differences and keep the welfare of the Bangsamoro people at the core of their decisions. Open and respectful debate, he said, is good for democracy, but “differences must never stand in the way of serving our communities.”

Sarmiento did not mention any party or name a preferred candidate for Chief Minister.

His statement followed by two days a manifesto from 10 Bangsamoro civil society organizations asking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. not to interfere in the selection of the next Chief Minister and to leave the decision to Parliament.

The September 14 elections were the first regular parliamentary polls in the Bangsamoro, coming 12 years after the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the CAB in 2014.

A total of 2,018,478 voters took part, for a turnout of 84.34 percent. The 80 members of Parliament were proclaimed shortly after midnight on September 16.

Of the 40 seats allotted to regional parties, the Bangsamoro Federalist Party secured 16 and the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the MILF's political party, 15. The BARMM Grand Coalition took eight and the Raayat Democratic Party one. The rest of the seats went to district and sectoral representatives.

Parliament will convene on October 30, when its members are set to elect the Chief Minister, the Speaker, and the other officers of the regional legislature.