Cotabato mayor sets peculiar rules against 'badmouthing' in BARMM polls

COTABATO CITY — The mayor of Cotabato City warned on Sunday, June 28, that any subordinate maliciously maligning any candidate or political party now gearing up for the September 14 Bangsamoro parliamentary polls could be suspended or, if evidence warrants, terminated from service.

Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao told reporters on Sunday that he shall immediately censure employees under his office if they are proven to have openly engaged in rude partisan talk and cast insults on political parties and aspirants for seats in the parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. 

The local government unit of Cotabato City, the regional capital of BARMM, which has 37 barangays, is home to mixed Muslim, Christian and indigenous non-Moro communities. 

The Commission on Elections had permitted at least 16 regional parties to participate in the September 14 BARMM elections.

Matabalao, now in his second term as mayor, is the chairperson of the multi-sector Cotabato City Peace and Order Council, which has extensive programs promoting cultural and interfaith solidarity among constituent communities. 

Matabalao told reporters on Sunday that while he firmly respects, in keeping with his neutrality, the right of employees under him to freely choose what parties to support and whom to vote for among candidates for the BARMM parliament, he shall, at the same time, do his best to prevent any possible outbreak of intense misunderstandings among them and the supporters and anointed bets of partisan groups that they are not in favor of.

He said he is against the possible unrestrained use of Facebook or any other media platforms by his subordinates in the city government to malign candidates opposing their favored bets of the 80-member BARMM parliament, as well as against absurd loose talk during gatherings or while at work.

“We just have to wait for the actual polling day to vote for chosen candidates. We, in the meantime, must avoid causing disunity among the local communities by talking badly about the candidates we do not support and the parties where they belong. We should not use Facebook to besmirch any party or candidate for that matter.  Sportsmanship, respect and amity are so essential in local politics,” Matabalao said.

Two ranking BARMM officials, Regional Labor and Employment Minister Muslim Sema and the lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, a member of the regional parliament, separately told reporters on Sunday that they are in favor of Matabalao's policy, which, for both of them, is a tacit move to forestall any deep-seated political tension among employees of the city’s local government and the local communities with political preferences.

Sema, president of the Bangsamoro Party of the Moro National Liberation Front, and Sinarimbo, deputy floor leader in the parliament and spokesperson of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, had earlier announced that their respective blocs have stringent policies against the use by members and supporters of Facebook or the  mainstream media to put candidates of other parties for the parliament in a bad light.

Sema, who is chairman of the MNLF’s central committee, and Sinarimbo, figurehead of the Cotabato City chapter of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, had earlier assured reporters of their willingness to sign a common manifesto, along with officials of other regional political parties, pledging support for the joint efforts of the Commission on Elections, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces to ensure safe and fraud-free September 14 polls in the autonomous region.

"We want this upcoming first ever Bangsamoro regional elections to be peaceful, orderly and clean," Sinarimbo said.