More than half of the 36 mayors in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte have joined a new political party as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao gears up for the first BARMM parliamentary elections in September.
In a caucus on Sunday in Talayan town and Cotabato City, the mayors, vice mayors, councilors and traditional Muslim leaders in both provinces took oath and pledged to push the peace and development agenda of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party.
Naguib Sinarimbo, a member of the 80-seat BARMM parliament, said the party supports the efforts of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), police and military to ensure a peaceful and honest parliamentary poll on Sept. 14.
‘We shall be reaching out to leaders in other provinces and cities in the autonomous region that had signified intention to join the Bangsamoro Federalist Party,’ Sinarimbo told reporters at the sideline of their caucus in Cotabato City.
The party is one of more than 10 political blocs the Comelec had permitted to participate in the upcoming parliamentary polls in Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi as well as the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato.
During the caucuses, Bangsamoro Federalist leaders Tomanda Antok and Sinarimbo briefed the new members of the party’s peace and development initiatives for Muslim, Christian and indigenous communities in the Maguindanao provinces.