Last week, I called up one of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) stalwarts, now BARMM Infrastructure Minister Eduard Guerra, who had since become a personal friend of mine, and suggested that an endorsement of my candidacy by the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (BUJP) would be very symbolic of reconciliation and our common desire for Peace.
Yesterday, the UBJP, which is the de facto political arm of the MILF, released the list of Senatorial candidates that the party endorsed and my name was not on the list.
I fully accept the party’s decision but I rue over the squander of what could have been a symbolic act of reconciliation had they included me in the list.
Sayang. We are all missing what could have been a historic and symbolic act of reconciliation for the sake of peace in Mindanao, a move which I initiated when I visited then MILF Chairman Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim in Camp Darapanan right after President Rody Duterte appointed me as his Agriculture Secretary.
Maybe, some of the UBJP hardcores could not still leave the past behind and they still remember that time when I stood up against the controversial MOA-AD which was later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Siguro hanggang ngayon, ang ibang hardcore leaders ng UBJP at MILF still look at me as their Number 1 Enemy, the Cotabato Governor who stood up and voiced opposition to the MOA-AD.
In spite of this, I still pledge to support the nascent Bangsamoro Government should I win as Senator.
Even if I don’t make it, I will continue to help the BARMM region in my private capacity as an environment and agriculture advocate.
However, gusto ko lang ituwid ang impression na hindi ako nakatulong sa BARMM in my capacity as Agriculture Secreetary and Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority.
Ang endorsement kasi ng UBJP ay nagsasabi: “After careful assessment of the track record, conviction, and contribution to the Bangsamoro …”
Except for Senator Migs Zubiri who was one of the authors of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, I doubt if any of the other endorsed candidates had helped the Bangsamoro Region and People as much as I did in just five years.
Just so people would know, as Agriculture Secretary, I designated a Maguindanao Muslim as head of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Dr. Sailila Abdula, making him the first Bangsamoro to assume that post.
I also brought with me to the DA Usec Ranibai Dilangalen and BFAR Director Yusop Pendaliday.
Para lang maliwanag, here are some of the interventions which I made for the Bangsamoro Region when I was DA and MinDA Secretary:
1. In March of 2017, hundreds of former MILF combatants were trained in upland rice farming by DA/PhilRice with the support of JICA. It was during the graduation ceremonies in Camp Darapanan where I met with then MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim. Following this, farm equipment were turned over the MILF for the use of their members.
2. In 2018, as DA Secretary, I helped craft the Bangsamoro Agriculture and Fisheries Master Plan which involved stakeholders from as far as Sitangkay in Tawitawi;
3. As DA Secretary, I led the turn-over of farm equipment in the different provinces of the BARMM, including hundreds of fishing boats in the island communities of the region.
4. In 2018, in the face of the rice supply shortage, I personally travelled to Jolo and Tawitawi to ensure that people will get enough rice from the National Food Authority;
5. After discovering that 7 coastal towns of Lanao del Sur were without electricity for almost 4 years, I personally handled the problem and brought the Mayors of Kapatagan, Balabagan, Malabang, Picong and three others to the DOE to address the problem. Naibalik ang kuryente.
6. As MinDA Chairman, I worked with DBP for the establishment of ATMs in “unbanked” towns of Lanao del Sur namely Balabagan, Malabang and Taraka;
7. As MinDA Chairman, I initiated the Taraka, Lanao del Sur Solar-Powered Water and Irrigation Systems making the town a model of an integrated rural development program;
8. As MinDA Chairman, I visited the Turtle Islands and later, with the help of DICT, established a satellite communications system in Taganak, the main island;
9. As MinDA Chairman, I initiated for the forging of an Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation Agreement with BARMM MAFAR which is now the basis of so many interventions;
10. In my personal capacity, an Aquaculture Production Project had been programmed for Parang, Maguindanao and with the completion of the Aqua Feed Formulation, it is expected to be launched after the elections.
The UBJP/MILF leadership may have missed the fact that the Bangsamoro Region is basically an Agriculture and Fisheries production area and while BARMM is autonomous, the farmers and fishermen of the region are praying for my victory as Senator.
Let me repeat: I have no right to question UBJP/MILF’s decision to not endorse a Mindanaoan Senatorial candidate but I will have to correct the impression that the 11 other candidates, aside from Sen. Zubiri, had served the Bangsamoro People more than I.
Their non-endorsement of my candidacy will not stop me from finding ways on how to help the Bangsamoro Region because I firmly believe that its success would augur well and nurture Peace in Mindanao.
The search for peace is greater than my personal feelings or any political agenda.
(These photos taken in March 2017 show my emotional meeting with MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad after long years of enmity.)
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