PARANG, Maguindanao del Norte – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) held its “final command conference” for the historic Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on September 14 here on Wednesday, with high-level officials in attendance.
The Comelec’s Bangsamoro Electoral Office, headed by Atty. Ray Sumalipao, held the command conference at the Police Regional Office – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region headquarters at Brig. Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun in Parang town.
Those in attendance included Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia, Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla, and BARMM interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua.
READ: Comelec lists new areas of concern for BARMM polls
Also present were Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., Philippine National Police chief; Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff; Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, Philippine Coast Guard commander; and Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, Philippine Army commanding general.
The half-day meeting, which kicked off at 12 p.m., discussed preparations and security measures for the first parliamentary elections in the BARMM.
The Bangsamoro region comprises the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato.
BARMM was established in 2019 with the ratification of Republic Act 11054, or the Organic Law for the BARMM, also called the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
The creation of the Bangsamoro autonomous region was anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
The Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the erstwhile rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the CAB in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
The MILF waged an armed rebellion against the government in the late 1970s, after splitting from the Moro National Liberation Front, which was fighting for the right of Muslims to self-determination in Mindanao.
The Bangsamoro peace deal is still being implemented. /coa
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