Four current, former BTA members win parliament seats

Four former and current members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) parliament were able to secure wins in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) election as sectoral representatives.

They are United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) candidates Dr. Muhammad Nadzir Ebil, Dr. Marjanie Mimbantas Macasalong, Atty. Mary Ann Arnado, and Engr. Aida Silongan.

UBJP is a political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)

Ebil, a current BTA parliamentary member, will represent the Ulama Sector in the BARMM parliament.

He is also the Secretary-General of the Hay-atul Ulama or Council of Islamic Scholars in the Philippines as well as President of the Supreme Council for Arabic HIgher Education in Bangsamoro (SCAHEB).

The other three UBJP candidates are former BTA parliament members.

Macasalong, the son of late MILF vice-chairman Aleem Abdul Asiz, secured a seat at the BARMM parliament as representative of the Traditional Leaders Sector.

While Silongan, who previously served as Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST-BARMM), and Arnado will serve as representatives of the Settler Community Sector and Women Sector, respectively.

Among the 80 BARMM parliamentary seats up for grabs in this year’s elections, eight are allotted for sectoral representatives.

Two more seats as sectoral representatives were also secured by the UBJP and those who got them are Bangsamoro community-based youth organization GABAY vice president Sulffy Abas and Yul Adolfo Olaya, chief of the Curriculum and Learning Division under the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE-BARMM).

Abas and Olaya will represent the Settler Community Sector and Youth Sector, respectively.

The other two seats as sectoral representatives will represent the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples.

The two spots went to Leticio Datuwata of the Labangian Tribe and Jo Genna Jover of the Teduray Tribe.

Datuwata is the current supreme leader of the Timuay Justice and Governance, the indigenous political structure that governs both the Teduray and Lambangian tribes.

While, Jover is a recipient of the 2015 N-Peace Award of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and has also served in the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission for the Bangsamoro peace process.