Ex-MILF military head elected chief minister of BARMM

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Abdulraof Macacua, who fought against President Marcos’ father in the 1970s, was elected chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, during the inaugural session yesterday of the newly elected members of the 80-seat BARMM parliament.

Macacua was the interim chief minister of BARMM, based on an appointment by Marcos, from March 2025 until his election as parliament member during the Sept. 14 regional elections.

He won 51 votes against 27 in the selection for chief minister by parliament members – with one abstention and one absence – against a lone contender, Ahod Ebrahim.

Ebrahim was BARMM’s chief minister from 2019, after the creation of BARMM then via a plebiscite, until 2025.

He is the chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose 2014 peace pact with the national government paved the way for the creation of BARMM in 2019, replacing the then 27-year now defunct, less empowered Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“I guarantee all residents of BARMM, the Muslim, Christian and the non-Moro indigenous communities in the region, an inclusive kind of regional governance, one involving all of these three communities,” Macacua told reporters just after his nomination as chief minister of the duly mandated parliament’s session yesterday.

Marcos attended the opening program of yesterday’s symbolic first session of the BARMM parliament members, held at the Session Hall, Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex, Bangsamoro Government Center Compound in Cotabato City.

Like Macacua, all other members of the interim BARMM parliament, who served prior to the Sept. 14 regional electoral exercise, were presidential appointees.

In a brief talk yesterday with parliament members before their inaugural session, Marcos assured them of his continuing support for the peace and development efforts of the BARMM government.

“To the members of this Parliament: Never forget the struggle that people have endured. Serve with humility. Carry the hopes of many generations and honor their sacrifices through good governance,” the President said.

Marcos said the inaugural session formally ends the seven-year transition under the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, and marks the beginning of the region’s first regular parliamentary government. — Helen Flores

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