COTABATO CITY - Cotabato City has now officially become part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao during a turnover ceremony on December 15 at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center (SKCC).
The historic turnover was witnessed by DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, PNP Chief P/BGen Debold Sinas, USec. Marjorie N. Jalosjos, DILG undersecretary for Mindanao Affairs and Special Concerns, Usec. David Diciano, who represented Sec. Carlito Galvez and Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez III was represented via Zoom app by Usec. Bayani Agabin.
DILG XII Regional Director Josephine Cabrido-Leysa, CESO III led the team from the regional office, with Assistant Regional Director Lailyn A. Ortiz, CESO V, CAO Dennis T. Sucol, SAO Mary Anne R. Traspe, Cotabato Province PD Ali Abdullah, City Director Sarah L. Alamada, Legal Officer/ Chief of Staff Michelle Anne P. Viejo, Planning Officer Muhammad Farzieh Abutazil, among others. The necessary documents to be turned-over to the BARMM were earlier readied.
In an earlier statement prior to the event proper, Dir. Leysa said "today, we are formally saying goodbye to Cotabato City, with its 37 barangays and the 63 barangays of Cotabato Province, as they move in to join their new home, the BARMM. For 61 years, Cotabato City has been an independent chartered city, and the 63 barangays have been a part of Region XII for a number of years. We have the bond as a community, much like in a typical Filipino family, and that will remain”.
Around 2:00 PM, the program started when all the visitors and other dignitaries were seated inside the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center. As part of their compliance to existing Covid-19 protocols, the auditorium which could seat 429, was filled in half capacity, with guests seated one seat apart and attendees all wearing face masks and face shields.
The security around the city was tight and policemen were posted along the main thoroughfare, leading to the venue. The vehicle traffic was well-managed and controlled by law enforcers, despite the momentary delay in the normal transportation flow. The entrances and exits to the city had been beefed up, with the presence of navy vessels along the coastlines of the city.
In a statement released to the media, Mayor Sayadi said: “Much as we have opposed the inclusion and the turn over, we took the democratic process and that is to bring the case to the Supreme Court and until now, we are still waiting for a resolution. So now, we leave the fate of our city to the hands of the Supreme Court. Whatever the result may be, rest assured, the Cotabato City LGU will continue to be a government by the people and for the people.”
The 2019 Plebiscite
The results of the plebiscite in Cotabato City held on January 2019 for the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM show that 36,682 voted in favor of the city’s inclusion against the 24,994 “no” votes, or a difference of 11,688 votes.
The Bangsamoro Organic Law, which was ratified in 2019, has abolished the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and replaced it with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). This new autonomous political entity has its own authority and power, including its own parliament. A key component of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro which was signed in 2014 was the establishment of the BARMM. In effect, it has become the peak achievement of the final peace deal between the government and the MILF after 17 years of peace negotiations, marked with skirmishes and violence in between.
Due to the perceived complexity of issues which needed more time to resolve, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has recently adopted a resolution which urge the House and Senate for a much longer transition period, from 2022 to 2025, to allow ample time for the normalization and peace-keeping process.
SILG’s challenge:
Secretary Eduardo M. Ano highlighted that human lives are the ‘greatest resource our country must protect in order to step forward.” The secretary acknowledged that the turn-over ceremony is ‘writing a new chapter of peace and unity’. He called on the uniformed forces “to unite on common ground and guard the rights and welfare of every person involved in this transition.”
He also appealed to the armed rebel groups to cease from disturbing the peace in Cotabato City, including the rest of the BARMM and the whole of Mindanao. He explained that most of the residents have lived with violence all their lives and they deserve peace as well. “We are all tired of violence so now is the time for us to win together. So I call on our local chief executives involved in the transition to lead your LGUs through the rough journey of this transition. Educate your constituents and make sure that they understand and support the move to empower the Bangsamoro. You are hands and feet of national government and are key to the success of the programs, projects, and advocacies implemented in BARMM,” the Secretary explained further.
Chief Minister’s Response
Meanwhile, in his message, Chief Minister Ahud B Ebrahim, (popularly known as Al-haj Murad) emphasized to the new member communities composed of the 63 barangays from Cotabato Province and the whole 37 barangays of Cotabato City that under his leadership, he will make sure “ that no constituency is left behind, regardless of creed, ethnicity or affiliation and urged every one to “come together as one community..”
He also asked his constituency to “find commonalities” and “choose hope over fear, choose unity over division and to work together in co-creating the Bangsamoro reflective of our shared histories, as Moros, Christian settlers and Indigenous Peoples.”
BARMM is made up of 5 provinces of the now-defunct ARMM, namely; Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan (but not Isabela City), Sulu and Tawi-tawi. Cotabato City is the seat of government of the BARMM.
