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 1^st 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 18^th 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.

Bea Cupin

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