COTABATO CITY — Local government units and leaders of two Moro fronts that have separate peace accords with Malacañang have given their assurance to help the police and military secure the April 13, 2024 plebiscite for the creation of eight new Bangsamoro municipalities in Cotabato province.
The chairperson of the Cotabato Provincial Peace and Order Council, Gov. Emmylou Taliño Mendoza, Bangsamoro Regional Labor Minister Muslimin G. Sema, who is chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front, and leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the province separately announced that they shall together help the Commission on Elections facilitate the plebiscite.
The eight towns being proposed shall be named Pahamudin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Old Kaabacan, Kapalawan, Malidegao, Tugunan and Ligawasan.
The democratic exercise is a requisite for the setting up of the eight towns that shall cover 63 Bangsamoro barangays in different towns in Cotabato, which is under Region 12, as proposed by the 80-seat regional parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“All MNLF field commanders in these Bangsamoro barangays, also known as the Bangsamoro SGA (Special Geographic Area) had been directed to support the April 13 plebiscite security efforts of the police and the Philippine Army,” Mr. Sema, chairman of the MNLF’s central committee, said. — John Felix M. Unson
