COTABATO CITY — The Save Bangsamoro Movement staged another peaceful rally in front of the Supreme Court on Monday, calling on the high tribunal to act on pending petitions that could significantly affect the historic parliamentary elections, peace process, and governance in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Datu Tokz Bin Abdulrahman, spokesperson for the Save Bangsamoro Movement, said that around 300 Bangsamoro supporters from various sectors joined the rally.
The rallyists urged the Supreme Court to immediately resolve petitions involving the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, redistricting issues, challenges to the appointment of Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua and other Members of Parliament, as well as other legal matters that may impact democratic representations and the continuity of self-governance in the region.
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The group expressed concern that unresolved cases could pose risks to the integrity of the peace process and the conduct of meaningful and credible elections in the BARMM.
Abdulrahman stressed that the first parliamentary elections, scheduled on Sept. 14, should proceed as planned to allow voters to elect their leaders.
He noted that members of the Bangsamoro Parliament were appointed rather than chosen by the electorate since the region’s establishment in 2019, underscoring the need to hold the region’s first parliamentary elections.
The first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections had been postponed four times.
Abdulrahman emphasized the prompt resolution of the issues before the SC is crucial to avoid delays in the scheduled BARMM elections and to preserve the gains of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
The CAB, the final peace agreement between the Philippine government and the erstwhile rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was signed in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations.
“(The) peace agreement must be honored. Democracy must be protected. The future of the Bangsamoro cannot be left in limbo,” he said. /das
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