DAVAO CITY – Is the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) still led and governed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)?

This was the lingering question in the region as MILF supporters recently filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) to remove six members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) members, including interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua.

This question was also raised by MILF Vice Chairman and chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal during a gathering of the group in Butig, Lanao del Sur on Thursday, Feb. 12.

Iqbal told a crowd of over 30,000 that the MILF is now a minority in the current composition of the Bangsamoro parliament as seven of the supposed 41 seats for MILF were not their recommendees.

“I’m not questioning Brother Sammy but I’m questioning the agreement between the government as stipulated in the CAB (Comprehensive Agreement in the Bangsamoro) and law passed by the Congress (Bangsamoro Organic Law),” said Iqbal, who also heads the education ministry of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The MILF chief negotiator was referring to the provision of the BOL that the BTA shall be MILF-led.

Iqbal reiterated that the under the BOL, the chief minister and the 40 BTA members shall be recommended by the MILF. The 39 others will be recommended by the government.

However, when the BTA’s term was extended after the 2025 elections, seven of those appointed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. did not reportedly come from the MILF’s list.

He recalled that under the Duterte administration and in the early years of Marcos administration, 41 members of the BTA came from the MILF’s recommendation.

But everything has changed after Macacua’s abrupt appointment in March 2025 and after the midterm elections in the same year when the BTA’s term was extended.

These abrupt changes in the Bangsamoro government have brought instability in the region, according to the MILF.

“To lead and to govern are two different things. When you say MILF-led, it means that 40 members of the BTA and chief minister should come from the MILF because that’s what the law says,” Iqbal explained before the crowd.

He believes that this move was designed to intervene in the internal affairs of the Bangsamoro government, which defies the spirit of autonomy.

“Kung mas maraming member ng parliament na hindi kasapi ng political party, mas madaling hawakan. Madaling hawakan ang parliament na watak watak,” Iqbal pointed out.

Thus, MILF supporters filed the petition before the High Court questioning the legality of the BTA appointments.

“This action was taken not for political interest or personal gain, but to defend the Constitution, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, and the integrity of the Bangsamoro transition,” the petitioners said in a statement.

“The Bangsamoro peace process was founded on legality, balance, and accountability. Any deviation from these principles weakens public trust and places the entire transition at risk. Appointments made in violation of constitutional and statutory limits cannot be justified by convenience or political expediency,” they added.

The petitioners stated “the Supreme Court has a constitutional duty these acts and to clarify the limits of appointing power in a transitional government.”

“The rule of law must prevail, especially in institutions born out of peace agreements and public sacrifice,” they said.

Former Cotabato City Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani believes that the MILF shall occupy majority of the seats in the parliament as provided in the BOL.

“To ‘lead’ an 80-member body, kailangan ng structural majority (at least 41 seats). Kung ang 41 seats na iyon ay pupunuin ng mga taong hindi endorsed ng Central Committee, hindi na ang MILF ang ‘namumuno,’ ang Presidente na,” Guiani wrote in his Facebook page on Feb. 12.

The former mayor, who was once opposed to the inclusion of her city to the Bangsamoro region, said she only shared her views on the prevailing issue in the region as a former Solicitor General of the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“MILF-led means organizational control, hindi lang basta label. The MILF-led mandate: Hindi lang ito listahan, ito ay kasunduan,” emphasized Guiani, adding that the mandate is clearly provided under the BOL.

She added that BTA is unlike any standard government board that the President can easily appoint whoever he wants. “Instead, it is a peace-building mechanism. Dahil ito ay mekanismo ng kapayapaan, ang ‘partner’ (ang MILF) ay dapat may boses at tunay na representasyon.”

But the representative should come from the ranks of the group that the government has signed the agreement.

Guiani also reminded that the BOL is not just an ordinary law. It is a product of the CAB, which was signed by the government and the MILF in 2014. “It is the ‘spirit of the agreement’ that requires the government to treat the MILF as a singular entity represented by its central committee.”