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Securing Bangsamoro’s ‘crown jewel’: How Cotabato City was won

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Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/news/01/23/20190121-cotabato-plebiscite-jc-7918.jpg"/><figcaption>Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) assist in the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite at the Cotabato City Pilot School, Jan. 21, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA—Cotabato City residents rushed to the streets exchanging congratulations following Monday’s crucial vote on a new autonomy law for the Muslim minority in the southern Philippines.The city had twice rejected efforts to be clamped into the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a 30-year-old, self-governing patch of provinces often derided as a “failed experiment.”This week’s plebiscite produced a rather stunning result: majority of the residents voted to join the new region that will replace the ARMM.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/22/19/cotabato-city-votes-yes-to-bangsamoro-organic-law">Cotabato City votes ‘yes’ to Bangsamoro Organic Law</a></li></ul>The outcome can be attributed to a host of factors, driven in large part by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s dogged effort to bring the city of nearly 300,000 inhabitants on board.But the group would not have secured Cotabato City, some analysts noted, without the national government, particularly President Rodrigo Duterte.Duterte flew to Cotabato City days before the Jan. 21 plebiscite to make a final pitch for inclusion, his effort backstopped by government officials and resources on the ground.<div>IRONIC</div>Cotabato City is naturally considered the “crown jewel” of the new Bangsamoro autonomous region, given its long and colorful history dating back to the 15th century.It used to be the seat of the powerful Sultanate of Maguindanao, and capital of what was the empire province of Cotabato, a name that means “stone fortress.”“The symbolism is so poweful,” MILF leader Mohagher Iqbal told ABS-CBN News, explaining why his rebel group campaigned hard in Cotabato City.The city is also home to the MILF leaders and combatants, located at the heart of their supposed area of influence.So, it would have been “ironic,” Islamic scholar Julkipli Wadi said, if the group failed in this “heartland of the Maguindanao territory.”“Papano niya ipapakita na meron syang control sa ibang probinsya at mga siyudad ng Mindanao kung di niya mismo ma-control ang Cotabato City?” Wadi, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Islamic Studies, told ABS-CBN News.<div>PROTEST</div>But how the country’s largest Muslim rebel group did it is now the subject of controversy.Thousands of its combatants assembled in critical areas in the city, Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi complained, allegedly to “scare off” residents from voting against joining the new region.It was relatively a close vote: 59 percent of the people, who actually cast their vote, favored inclusion.The outcome in Cotabato City was below the 85-percent voter turnout for the 5 ARMM provinces. It was closer to the 58-percent turnout in Isabela City, Basilan, which, incidentally, voted against inclusion.Guiani said she would file a protest against the plebiscite result in her city, citing the MILF’s alleged harassment and the ensuing “massive disenfranchisement of voters.” MILF leaders have denied the allegations.<div>COMBATANTS</div>Lawyer Benedicto Bacani, head of a Cotabato City-based think tank, said it’s important to “understand the context by which the plebiscite was conducted.”Here, he said, was a situation where the bigger peace process allowed MILF combatants “to be actively involved in the campaign and the actual conduct of the plebiscite.”“Whether that has affected the credibility of the political exercise is an issue that the Comelec will have to decide on,” said Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance.“It is really a complex process of a political process within a peace process.”<div>VOTE FROM THE HEART</div>Bacani said the plebiscite victory in Cotabato City was also delivered by voters, who were convinced it would help address the “historical injustice” against Muslims in the region.The message resonated, promoted by a “well-organized” campaign by the MILF, through its United Bangsamoro Justice Party, he said.Security analysts interviewed by ABS-CBN News pointed to concerns from the security sector that a vote against inclusion in Cotabato City would have brought more problems, despite MILF leaders’ assurance that they would respect whatever the plebiscite outcome would be.Soon after the Jan. 21 plebiscite, Bacani said he saw a Facebook comment of one resident saying: “I voted ‘yes’ from the heart, not from the head.”The candid admission, he said, could be indicative of a collective optimism, which also puts enormous pressure on the MILF to deliver.<div>DECOMMISSIONING</div>The group will head a transition government that will be established soon after the BOL is officially ratified.MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim is expected to lead the temporary government, as chief minister, for 3 years until the first regular elections in the new region in 2022.Bacani said there should also be focus on the decommissioning of MILF combatants and weapons, 30 percent of which are expected right after ratification.The rest of decommissioning will come after the establishment of the Bangsamoro police, and later after a full and verified implementation of the MILF’s agreements with the government, Iqbal said.Bacani asked: “Is there a situation where the MILF will be in power while it would still have combatants that have not been decommissioned?”

This week’s plebiscite produced a rather stunning result: majority of the residents voted to join the new region that will replace the ARMM.

This week’s plebiscite produced a rather stunning result: majority of the residents voted to join the new region that will replace the ARMM.

Securing Bangsamoro’s ‘crown jewel’: How Cotabato City was won

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Securing Bangsamoro’s ‘crown jewel’: How Cotabato City was won

Christian V. Esguerra,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 25, 2019 03:57 PM PHT

Read More:

Cotabato City

Bangsamoro vote

Bangsamoro plebiscite

BOL

Bangsamoro Organic Law

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