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Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan was confident he could win as chief minister to unseat MILF’s Ebrahim
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court’s ruling that excluded Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will also remove the top challenger for the leadership post of the region in the 2025 parliamentary elections, currently held by Chief Minister Ahod “Al-Hajj Murad” Balawag Ebrahim of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Sulu kingpin and Governor Abdusakur Tan was designated by four political parties to be the unified candidate against Ebrahim. Ebrahim said on Wednesday, September 11, that he was “deeply concerned over the exclusion of the province of Sulu.”
“Kunwari lang ‘yan, sila nga ang may gusto na matanggal na ang Sulu. Masaya nga sila kasi hindi ko sila matatalo. [The chief minister] was almost, inshallah, certain,” Tan told Rappler over the phone on Wednesday. (They are just pretending, they’re the ones who want Sulu out. They are happy because I cannot beat them.)
Tan was going to be the candidate of the BARMM Grand Coalition or BGC, the umbrella coalition of four political parties composed of the Tans’ Salam Party, Serbisyong Inklusibo-Alyansa Progresibong Party (SIAP) led by Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr., Al-Ittihad-UKB founded by Secretary Suharto Mangudadatu, and Bangsamoro People’s Party led by Basilan Representative Mujiv Hataman.
But because of the recent Supreme Court ruling, Tan is assuming he is now disqualified. The Supreme Court did say that its ruling was immediately executory.
Sulu is the birthplace and bailiwick of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), rival group of the MILF. The MILF was the Philippine government’s partners in the peace process that culminated in the enactment and ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). BOL created the BARMM.
Tan’s son, Abdusakur A. Tan II, who was governor of Sulu in 2018 was the one who filed the petition in the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the BOL. The Tans believe that the BOL unduly erases the Sulu sultanates’ histories, and their votes in the ratification being grouped with the votes of the entire former ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) trampled on their rights.
When the BOL was ratified in a plebiscite in 2019, Sulu voted against it, but because they were grouped with the rest of the former ARMM, the “yes” votes won and they have been part of BARMM since then. Tan said he was urged to withdraw the petition they filed in 2018 when the “yes” votes won in the 2019 plebiscite, but he told Rappler “I cannot withdraw because that’s the will of the people.” BARMM key figures have pointed out that what Sulu voted against in the plebiscite was the ratification of the BOL, and not inclusion in BARMM.
Tan said he still preferred to be directly under the national government. “We just like to stay under the rule of the national government, buti kung meron kaming resources, eh wala naman (it’s not like we have our own resources), we still rely on the national government, why go through another layer of bureaucracy?”
Hataman, who is part of the BARMM Grand Coalition that endorsed Tan, had earlier said he was “saddened” by the ruling. Tan said he is yet to explain the Supreme Court ruling to his Sulu constituents. One concern was the impact on the livelihoods of Sulu people who are employed by the BARMM government.
“Problema nga eh, ‘yung services wala na silang opisina, kami na nga ang nagbibigay ng space, naging burden pa sa amin,” said Tan. (Now it’s a problem, especially the services because they don’t have an office, we’re the ones giving them space, yet it has become a burden.)
Chief Minister Ebrahim said: “We will carefully study the Supreme Court’s decision on Sulu’s exclusion with the commitment to explore all avenues to hold fast the dream of a united Bangsamoro as well as the commitments enshrined in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro will be fully realized.”
Current and former officials from BARMM have warned of far-reaching consequences in the Bangsamoro because of Sulu’s exclusion. – Rappler.com
