BARMM governors, security sector vow sustained anti-crime drive

SULU, Philippines – The five governors of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), together with the police, military and other stakeholders – under the leadership of Chief Minister Ahod Ibrahim – stood united on Saturday, June 10, as they pledged to address and fight criminality in their respective provinces. 

Chief Minister Ibrahim gave his assurances during the BARMM Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) meeting at the Sultan Kiram Gymnasium in Maimbung, Sulu. He also assured that the BARMM Government under his leadership continues to support the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA). 

This, even as the security sector reported a significant decrease in criminality in the Bangsamoro region except for the “rido” or armed conflict among feuding families in certain areas in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, and Basilan. 

Lieutenant General Roy Gallido, commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) with jurisdiction over the BARMM, confirmed the Abu Sayyaf Group remains a security threat in Sulu and Basilan, as does the Daulah Islamiya in Maguindanao. 

Gallido reported that, for the period from January to June 2023, some 225 local terrorists have been neutralized and 176 loose firearms have been recovered throughout Western Mindanao including BARMM, collecting nearly 5,000 unlicensed firearms in an ongoing Small and Light Weapons (SALW) Program with Basilan Province under the leadership of Governor Jim Salliman.

For his part, Carlito Galvez Jr., Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity said efforts would be made to convene a meeting of the Ulama Council of Elders in the Bangsamoro region to seek support for security. 

Governors endorse postponement of Barangay, SK elections

Meanwhile, the five BARMM governors, through Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, presented and endorsed to the RPOC a position paper–slash–manifesto, calling for the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in the BARMM until the decommissioning of former combatants from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is completed. 

The governors of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao agreed upon the manifesto during a separate caucus. 

Salliman moved for the creation of a technical working group that will study their position papers. – Rappler.com