Ex-BARMM chief minister declines appointment as regional parliament member

COTABATO CITY — The former chief minister of the Bangsamoro region has acknowledged his successor through a congratulatory message sent to media outlets in Central Mindanao on Monday morning, March 24.

At the same time, Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, the first chief minister of the now five-year-old Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, pointed out in his written statement that he had declined his appointment as a member of BARMM's 80-seat parliament by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Marcos designated early this month the acting governor of the newly-created Maguindanao del Norte province, Abdulrauf Abdul Macacua, as the new BARMM chief minister, replacing Ebrahim, who is chairman of the central committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Macacua is the chief of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.

The president also appointed then more than 70 regional lawmakers, among them Ebrahim.

“I have decided to respectfully decline that appointment,” Ebrahim, who was officially installed as BARMM’s chief minister in 2019 by then-President Rodrigo Duterte, said.

Macacua told reporters on Monday that he deeply appreciates the role of Ebrahim, the members of the regional parliament that he had led for five years, and all the ministers at the helm of different agencies in the autonomous region in setting up the facets for regional governance in the context of Moro autonomy together conceptualized by the MILF and the national government in two decades of peace talks.

The new BARMM chief said that he will do his best to sustain the gains made in peace, security, and development initiatives by his predecessor, Ebrahim.

Macacua expressed his gratitude to all members of the MILF, civil society organizations, and international humanitarian and peace-advocacy groups that have supported the BARMM government in fostering peace and sustainable development in the Bangsamoro region.

The Bangsamoro region encompasses the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi, as well as the cities of Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato, where the regional capital is located.