OPAPRU urges new BARMM MPs: Preserve peace gains

Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) has urged the newly elected members of the Bangsamoro Parliament to preserve and advance the gains of the peace process following the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“To the newly elected members of the first Bangsamoro Parliament, and to all who stepped forward as worthy contenders: I urge you to rally behind our shared duty to preserve and advance the hard-won gains of the peace process,” Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento said Tuesday.

“Honor the commitments you made during the campaign and work collaboratively to uplift our communities. Inclusive progress remains a collective responsibility,” he added.

The BARMM held its first parliamentary elections on Monday, September 14, with a final voter turnout of 84.34%, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The turnout represented 2,018,478 voters out of the region’s 2.393 million registered voters.

Sarmiento said the election was a milestone, as it marked the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) first participation in an election.

“It is a defining step in its transition from a revolutionary organization into a democratic political movement,” Sarmiento said.

“It stands as a powerful realization of the transformation envisioned under the CAB (Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro): shifting from armed struggle to parliamentary democracy, with former combatants now stepping forward as legitimate political leaders and peacebuilders,” he added.

The Bangsamoro Parliament has 80 seats: 40 for party representatives, 32 for district representatives and eight for sectoral representatives.

The Bangsamoro Federal Party (BFP) secured 16 party-representative seats, while the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) won 15 seats in the historic elections, according to the Comelec canvass report.

The BARMM Grand Coalition won eight seats, while the Raayat Democratic Party secured one seat.

BFP also secured the most district seats across the seven areas in the Bangsamoro, with 16 seats.

This was followed by UBJP with seven seats and the Serbisyong Inklusibo-Alyansang Progresibo Party (SIAP Party) with six.

Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro People's Democratic Party (Pro Bangsamoro) and Al-Ittihad Ummah Kalim Bangsamoro (ITIHAD) won one seat each, while an independent candidate secured one district seat.

The 80 newly elected Parliament members will assume office on October 30 and elect the region’s chief minister. The first elected officials will serve a five-year term until June 30, 2031. — MCG, GMA News