Muslim region in Philippines prepares for 1st democratic elections after gaining autonomy

By Ahmet Furkan Mercan

ANKARA (AA) – The Muslim-majority Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, southern Philippines, is preparing for the first democratic elections after the region got autonomy.

The elections are expected to be held in 2025.

Huseyin Oruc, a Turkish representative in the Bangsamoro Third-Party Monitoring Team (TPMT), told Anadolu that the regional elections in 2025 will test the long-lasting peace process in the southern Philippines.

Noting that the peace process with two backbones – normalization and political pillars – continues “despite setbacks and problems”, Oruc said that the political part is going as planned, but there are delays and problems in the normalization part.

“The process continues in all dynamics. If elections are held in a safe environment, the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) can obtain a majority or close to a majority in these elections and continue the government.

“If the people say, 'We are happy with peace, we are happy with those who have governed Moro since 2019,' and give the majority to the (MILF) front party in the elections, much faster steps can be taken in other areas, including normalization," he said.

Noting that the police force of the region should be brought to the mechanism that works under the command of the Philippine State, he argued that a total of 7,000 people in the region, including the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), should be taken into the new police force and connected to the regional prime minister.

“Unfortunately, we have been very slow in this regard. While it should be 7,000, we stayed at 398,” Oruc said.

- 'Serious blockage' on amnesty

Stressing that a general amnesty in the region is necessary for the peace process, Oruc said: “If you want peace, you have to close the past and turn a new page."

Emphasizing that a commission for general amnesty was established through a circular issued by Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in January, he said that there were problems in disarming 40,000 MILF members and reintegrating them into social life.

“However, the commission created a mechanism to take all the cases one by one, examine them and decide accordingly. It is a very long process to review 40,000 numbers one by one and prepare their files.

"They received their applications, unfortunately, the applications were very limited. There is a very serious bottleneck on general amnesty,” Oruc said.

Noting that important names of the MILF are still on the wanted list although elections are planned to be held in May 2025, Oruc said that these names have the "motivation to represent the people in parliament" if elected.