MILF’s political party bets file COC

COTABATO CITY — Thousands escorted the candidates of the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for elective posts in Cotabato City in their filing of certificates of candidacy at the office of the Commission on Elections in the Bangsamoro capitol on Saturday morning, October 5.

The MILF’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party, (UBJP) has anointed the reelectionist Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao as its chosen bet for the city’s highest elective post, with the newcomer Johair Madag, as his running mate.

The flow of traffic at Cotabato City’s Sinsuat Avenue, which straddles through commercial hubs and connects the city proper to the 32-hectare regional capitol of the Bangsamoro region, got stalled for hours due to the presence in its stretches of people supporting the candidacy of Matabalao and Madag and UBJP's 10 favored bets for seats the Sangguniang Panglunsod.

The 10 UBJP candidates for Cotabato City councilors, Datu Raiz Sema, Florante Formento, Elboy Midtimbang, Mohamad Mangelen, Anwar Malang, Michael Datumanong, Faidz Edzla, Joven Pangilan, Jonas Mohammad and Shalimar Candao, also filed their COCs along with Matabalao and Madag.

The UBJP was organized around six years ago by the MILF, whose top leader is Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, as part of the front's effort to foster lasting peace and sustainable development in the Bangsamoro region via governance, political and socio-economic interventions.

The MILF’s two peace compacts with Malacañang, the 2012 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro led to the setting up of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao via a plebiscite in 2019. This replaced the then 27-year, less empowered, now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.