MILF chairman Ahod Balawag Ebrahim stays on board as interim chief minister as President Marcos finally names members of the BTA
MANILA, Philippines – Officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) took their oath on Friday, August 12, at Malacañang Palace.
In a closed-door event inside the Palace, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself led the oath-taking of Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim and other interim members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
Also in attendance were top Palace officials – Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo and the two heads of Congress, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The President’s son, Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, who is also senior deputy majority leader, was also present and posted photos of the oath-taking on his official social media accounts.
According to Rodriguez, UN Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzales, also came.
Eighty individuals were named as members of the BTA. Of the 80, 41 are nominees from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) while 39 are from the government. The MILF spearheaded negotiations that led to the creation of the BARMM and, according to the Bangsamoro Organic Law, is tasked to head the BTA.
The BTA, convened in 2019, was supposed to end on June 30, 2022 with the election of BARMM parliament members during the May 2022 elections. But the 18th Congress and the previous administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte extended the transition period to 2025, citing delays in the transition process, partly due to the pandemic.
Members of the BTA hail from Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi, the Bangsamoro community from North Cotabato, indigenous groups who are not Moro, the Kagan community from Davao Oriental, as well as Christian communities from Davao and Cotabato City, according to the BARMM.
While the BARMM has released the list of the 80 persons who make up the BTA, the Palace itself has yet to release the list of BTA members.
The full list of BTA members under the new Marcos administration, according to a release from the BARMM, are as follows:
1. MR. AHOD BALAWAG EBRAHIM
2. MR. ABDULLAH EBUS GAYAK
3. MR. ABDULLAH BISTON HASHIM
4. ABDULLAH GOLDIANO MACAPAAR
5. ABDULRAOF ABDUL MACACUA
6. ABDULWAHAB MOHAMMAD PAK
7. AIDA MACALIMPAS SILONGAN
8. AKMAD INDIGAY ABAS
9. ALI OMAR SALIK
10. ALI BANGCOLA SOLAIMAN
11. AMROUSSI AMPUAN MACATANONG
12. ANNA TARHATA SUMANDE BASMAN
13. BAI MALEIHA BAJUNAID CANDAO
14. BAILENG SIMPAL MANTAWIL
15. BASIT SARIP ABBAS
16. BENJAMIN TUPAY LOONG
17. DAN SALA ASNAWIE
18. EDDIE MAPAG ALIH
19. EDUARD UY GUERRA
20. HARON MUHAMMAD ABAS
21. HUSSEIN PALMA MUÑOZ
22. IBRAHIM DUMARAAG ALI
23. KADIL MONERA SINOLINDING. JR
24. LANANG TAPODOC ALI. JR
25. MARJANIE SALIC MACASALONG
26. MARY ANN MADROÑO ARNADO
27. MATARUL MATARUL ESTINO
28. MOHAGHER MOHAMMAD IQBAL
29. MOHAMMAD SHUAIB YACOB
30. MOSBER ENTOL ALAUDDIN
31. MUDJIB COMPANIA ABU
32. PANGALIAN MACAORAO BALINDONG
33. RAISSA HERRADURA JAJURIE
34. RAMON ALEJANDRO PIANG SR.
35. SAID ZAMAHSARI SALENDAB
36. SAID MANGGIS SHIEK
37. SHA ELIJAH BIRUAR DUMAMA-ALBA
38. SUHARTO SANDAYAN ESMAEL
39. SUWAIB LATIP ORANON
40. TAWAKAL BUGA MIDTIMBANG
41. UBAIDA CASAD PACASEM
42. ALI MONTAHA DATU HARON BABAO
43. HATIMIL ESMAIL HASSAN
44. MUSLIMIN ASALIM JAKILAN
45. ALBAKIL DASANI JIKIRI
46. FAISAL GUIABAR KARON
47. OMAR YASSER CRISOSTOMO SEMA
48. ADZFAR HAILID USMAN
49. ABDULKARIM TAN MISUARI
50. NURREDHA IBRAHIM MISUARI
51. DENMARTIN ABDUKAHIL KAHALAN
52. ABDULAZIZ MANGANDAKI AMENODIN
53. HAMID UDDIN MALIK
54. TARHATA MATALAM MAGLANGIT
55. RANDOLPH CLIMACO PARCASIO
56. LAISA MASUHUD ALAMIA
57. RASOL YAP MITMUG, JR.
58. BAINTAN ADIL AMPATUAN
59. JOSE IRIBANI LORENA
60. NABIL ALFAD TAN
61. SUHARTO MASTURA AMBOLODTO
62. DON MUSTAPHA ARBISON LOONG
63. AMILBAHAR SADDALANI MAWALLIL
64. RASUL ENDEREZ ISMAEL
65. SUSANA SALVADOR ANAYATIN
66. ROMEO KABUNTALAN SEMA
67. FROILYN TENORIO MENDOZA
68. ISHAK VELOSO MASTURA
69. ALI BALAYMAN SANGKI
70. NABILA MARGARITA PACASUM PANGANDAMAN
71. DIAMILA DISIMBAN RAMOS
72. JOHN ANTHONY LACBAO LIM
73. HASHEMI NUR DILANGALEN
74. SITTIE FAHANIE SINDATOK UY-OYOD
75. JAAFAR APOLLO MIKHAIL LINTONGAN MATALAM
76. BASSIR DIMAUKOM UTTO
77. KHALID MA-AMPOR HADJI ABDULLAH
78. MICHAEL ENIT MIDTIMBANG
79. MOHAMMAD KELIE UGALINGAN ANTAO
80. PAISALIN PANGANDAMAN TAGO
There was uncertainty over the composition and status of the BTA in the first few days of the Marcos administration. Interim officials decided they’d stay put as they waited for Malacañang to clarify Memorandum Circular No. 1, which “declared vacant certain positions in the departments, offices, agencies, and bureaus in the executive department… effective noontime of 30 June 2022.”
MC 1 has since been supplanted by Memorandum Circular No. 3, which extends the terms of officers-in-charge until the end of 2022.
In late July, a group that claimed to be ad-hoc officials and members of the MILF called on Marcos to replace the BTA members, led by Ebrahim or Chairman Murad, the MILF chairman. Marcos also made no mention of the BARMM during his first State of the Nation Address. – Rappler.com
