MILF Official Alleges Palace Interference Ahead of Bangsamoro Elections

Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)'s Peace Implementing Panel (PIP), has expressed concern over alleged "undue intervention by high government officials" in the run-up to the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on September 14. He claims that "identified Malacañáng officials are forcing local government executives to deliver votes to favor a specific regional political party." Iqbal made these remarks at the Civil Society Summit for the Bangsamoro on Thursday afternoon at the Ateneo de Davao University. When asked on Friday night about the identities of these officials, Iqbal told MindaNews, "not yet good to name names." "We are watching and observing the manipulation to favor one political party over another in exchange of multi-million projects or resort to blackmail and threats of audit or cases in the Ombudsman," he told the CSO Summit. He urged the crowd to "please help us address this issue." "We can never have a peaceful parliamentary election if identified Malacañáng officials force local government executives to deliver votes to favor a specific regional political party. The intervention is getting very blatant. This is a very brazen strategy to rig the forthcoming election," he said. Although Iqbal did not name the "identified Malacanang officials," a massive rally on June 25 organized by Recover BARMM Now and attended by members and supporters of the MILF and United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the MILF’s political party, called for the reinstatement of MILF chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim as interim Chief Minister, the designation of the government’s Peace Implementing Panel chair, and the resignation of Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo. Lagdameo and then Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez have been repeatedly criticized for allegedly interfering in BARMM affairs, including the replacement of MILF chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim by Abdulraof Macacua in March last year. Both Lagdameo and Galvez denied the allegations. Lagdameo and Galvez were also criticized last year for allegedly interfering in the May 2025 local elections to favor candidates of the UBJP. Sultan Kudarat Governor Pax Ali Mangudadatu last year alleged that Lagdameo influenced the election outcomes in BARMM areas, particularly in Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte, to favor UBJP candidates. Mangudadatu’s father, Suharto, ran for governor of Maguindanao del Norte while his mother ran for governor of Maguindanao del Sur in last year’s election. Both lost to UBJP-allied candidates. Macacua, who was named interim Chief Minister in March last year and concurrent UBJP Secretary-General then, dismissed the allegations. Iqbal did not name the regional party he claimed was being favored by the “identified Malacanang officials” but BARMM residents say he was referring to the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP). From UBJP to BFP Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao and five City Councilors and some barangay chairs of Cotabato City bolted the UBJP last month and moved over to the BFP, a new political party whose membership includes MILF members and supporters. The BFP is supporting the candidacy of Macacua for 3rd district representative of Maguindanao del Norte. Macacua is running as an Independent candidate. Presidential Peace Adviser Mel Senen Sarmiento in a statement on June 24 said the initiatives of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) "are guided solely by our agency’s mandate and should never be seen as interference in the electoral process or support for any political group or candidate." “Our agency remains strictly non-partisan and committed to supporting peace, development, and institutional continuity in the BARMM. We believe that the peacebuilding process must transcend political transitions and administrations,” he said. Macacua told MindaNews on July 4 that Iqbal “has to substantiate his claims” of alleged intervention of national officials. From May 2022 to September 14, 2026 The long-delayed election was first scheduled for May 2022 but was reset to May 2025 and rescheduled to October 2025 and finally scheduled on September 14. Iqbal stressed that the September 14 voting is not merely another political event but represents “the culmination of decades of struggle and the realization of the Bangsamoro people’s aspiration for meaningful self-governance through democratic means.” “Our appeal is simply to allow the Bangsamoro people to have a free and fair elections. Let the Moro electorate freely choose their own Members of Parliament,” he said. The Bangsamoro comprises five provinces (Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi and the Special Geographic Area), three cities (Cotabato, Lamitan and Marawi), and a Special Geographic Area comprising 63 villages in North Cotabato). BARMM has a total population of 4.5 million as of the 2024 national census and a voting population of 2.3 million as of the May 2025 elections. Eighty seats are up for election on September 14: 40 party representatives, 32 single district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives. BARMM voters are expected to cast their votes for a political party, one district representative and six sectoral representatives plus two Indigenous Peoples representatives if the voter is an IP. Each political party submits a list of 40 nominees and the number of representatives that a party will have will depend on the number of votes it gets. Only parties receiving at least 2.5% of the total valid votes cast for the party representation election shall be qualified to participate in the allocation of party representation seats. Thirteen regional parliamentary political parties (RPPPs) are participating in the September 2025 elections. The term of office of the MPs is three years but for the first elected MPs, they will step down on June 30, 2031, as mandated by Republic Act 12317, which reset the elections to September 14. The extended term, for the first elected, is to ensure they will be able to serve a full term of three years, with an additional 20 months so that by 2031 and every three years thereafter, the regional elections will have been synchronized with the national and local polls. “We firmly believe that the Bangsamoro people alone should determine their political future through a fair, and free, peaceful, and credible electoral process. The integrity of these elections is inseparable from the integrity of the peace process itself,” said Iqbal. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)