Muslim, Christian residents demand reforms in BARMM governance

COTABATO CITY — Thousands of residents from Bangsamoro provinces converged in Cotabato City on Monday, June 22, and vowed support for multi-sector efforts to address corruption, nepotism and other problems currently besetting the autonomous regional government.

Speakers at Monday’s grand rally in uptown Cotabato City also urged BARMM’s newly appointed Chief Minister, Abdulrauf Macacua, appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. barely 15 months ago, to continue pushing his “moral governance” agenda to revitalize the operations of the regional government, which they said has failed to take off since its inception in 2019.

The three-hour rally, which began with the march by participants from nearby areas close to the BARMM government center,  caused massive traffic congrestion along key thoroughfares in the city.

The BARMM was established in 2019 as the result of 22 years of peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, replacing the then 27-year less empowered and now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Macacua replaced the region’s first chief minister, Ahod Ebrahim, on March 3, 2025. Ebrahim, chairman of the MILF’s central committee, was appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte. 

“We came here to join this grand rally to show that we want the Bangsamoro regional government managed efficiently, in the most transparent manner, as envisioned by Chief Minister Macacua” a 66-year-old Maguindanaon woman, Samira, told reporters in Filipino.

An ethnic Maguindanaon man, Kendatu, 72, who claimed to have lost two of his sons, both Moro guerillas, in an encounter with soldiers in 2000 somewhere in Cotabato province in Region 12, said he and his relatives are optimistic that Macacua and the regional lawmakers under him can revitalize and make the regional government more efficient sooner than expected.

The territory of BARMM encompasses the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato, where its regional capitol is located, and eight newly established municipalities in the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province. 

“The BARMM was paid for with blood of the Moro guerillas who fought for it, some of them related to us by blood. We shall, thus, help Chief Minister Macacua make it functional, its programs and projects implemented well, in the most transparent manner,” Badrudin, a 63-year-old farmer, said.

Some of the 116 municipal mayors in BARMM and members of the region’s 80-member parliament separately told reporters on Monday that they are optimistic that the current BARMM leadership can achieve its governance reform goals with the help of officials overseeing the ministries and support agencies in the regional government.

Macacua, as BARMM’s chief minister, also serves as the head of the regional parliament, which has 80 members from the region’s five provinces and three cities.

Among those who joined Monday’s rally were hundreds of MILF members and thousands of residents from the 37 barangays in Cotabato City.