Marcos: Protect Bangsamoro poll

Considered the final step for the long-term stability of Mindanao, the election for members of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliament must be peaceful and credible, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said yesterday.

Mr. Marcos ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Western Mindanao to prepare early to safeguard the BARRM polls that will coincide with the national elections on 12 May next year.

Under the Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, the self-governing region will have a parliamentary government in contrast to the country’s presidential form.

Marcos emphasized the need to have the BARMM parliament be made up of members who reflect the will of the voters.

His call came amid suggestions that political groups outside of the BARMM, including armed militants, will meddle in the outcome of the polls or will try to make it fail.

“Make sure there will be no terrorism, no political violence. Make sure we can minimize all of that,” Mr. Marcos told the military during his visit to the 11th Infantry Division (ID) headquarters at Camp Teodulfo Bautista in Jolo, Sulu over the weekend.

“We need to have a peaceful election,” the President stressed.

He rallied all uniformed personnel to prioritize “winning the peace in Mindanao.”

“That is all in the interest of peace. We do this because we want peace to continue in this area, in the Southern Philippines. We do not want to see the kind of fighting that we saw many decades ago,” he said.

The first Bangsamoro parliamentary and regional election was reset from May 2023 to May 2025 after then President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11593 moving the date to synchronize it with the next midterm elections.

The rescheduling was also sought in order to complete the transitional programs and regional projects that were hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

ASG, other terrorists disabled

The President credited the military with minimizing the threats from the Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups.

“I have to congratulate all of you who have worked to achieve this success, who have worked very hard and have made many sacrifices so that we can now say the capabilities of the main threat, which is the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), have been severely reduced,” Marcos told the troops.

Amid the favorable outcome of the government’s fight against insurgency, Marcos ordered the AFP to remain vigilant and continue its counter-measures against the enemies of the state.

He touted the military’s capability to confront and foil the threats of international terror groups infiltrating the country through local rebels, such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“We also spoke briefly about the continuing threat of outside terrorist groups coming in, the Al-Qaeda-inspired and ISIS-inspired groups that we used to see entering here. It seems that we aren’t threatened as much by these groups,” he said.

Job not over

“Now, that does not mean that the mission is over. As you can imagine, some may plan to organize themselves, so we need to be vigilant,” the President said.

During his visit, the Western Mindanao Command briefed Marcos on the continuing drop in the capabilities, manpower, and number of firearms of the insurgent groups.

“The assessment is that the threat is only from individual actors. They do not have units that operate. They are neutralized. We have dismantled their machinery for causing and bringing terror,” Marcos said.

Shift to external defense

He said the AFP was shifting to external defense operations to confront emerging regional threats such as the increasing tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

He noted the government’s organizational changes, including the creation of the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea and the activation of the National Maritime Council to boost the presence of the AFP and the Philippine Coast Guard in the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The President also cited the public concern about the Chinese ships passing through the waters of Mindanao.

“We just have to keep vigilant and to continue to watch what is going on and make sure that we can monitor everything that is happening,” he said.

Last month, at least four Chinese vessels were seen passing through Balabac Strait near Onok Island in Balabac, Palawan. Balabac Strait is one of the sea passages connecting the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea.

Also spotted were two People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels passing through Basilan Strait in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

In May, the Philippine Navy confirmed the passage of four PLAN ships through the Sibutu Passage in Tawi-Tawi province.

The Navy explained to Daily Tribune that Basilan Strait, Balabac Strait, and the Sibutu Passage are international sea lanes where the innocent passage of foreign vessels is allowed.

In the Law of the Sea, the right of innocent passage for international navigation applies to straits.

The passage, however, must be innocent and not be for the purposes of smuggling, spying, weapons testing, or serious pollution, among other illegal activities.