The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has yet to endorse a presidential candidate for this year's elections, its chief minister said Wednesday.
The Bangsamoro is still undecided who among the 10 aspirants for the country's top post will get their support, BARMM chief minister Ahod Ebrahim told PTV.
"Sa ngayon, ang BARMM po, wala po kaming official na appointed sa presidential [candidate]," he said.
"We are inviting all presidential candidates na bumisita sa amin para maipahayag nila ang kanilang mga plataporma," he said.
BARMM has more than 2.5 million registered voters in the May elections, according to data monitored by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group. Overall, there are over 65.7 million registered voters, excluding those who registered for Overseas Absentee Voting.
So far, only Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Isko Moreno Domagoso has campaigned in the Bangsamoro among the 10 candidates, an official from the region told ABS-CBN News.
Domagoso was able to mount a 3-day sortie in Maguidanao, Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato after Maguindanao Rep. Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu backed his presidential bid.
Mangudadatu is part of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the official political party Ebrahim and other members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Mangudadatu's wife Sharifa, a former beauty queen, is running for governor under the banner of Aksyon Demokratiko.
While the Bangsamoro held some 2.17 million votes in the 2019 elections, only 1.6 million of its registered voters or about 74 percent actually cast ballots that time, according to data from Access Bangsamoro, an online portal that monitors the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
In the upcoming elections, Maguindanao has the most number of registered voters in the region with over 939,000, followed by Lanao del Sur with more than 685,000, and Sulu with more than 428,000.
Basilan has nearly 300,000, and Tawi-Tawi has over 232,000, based on data released by Comelec.
REVAMP
Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro has passed an ordinance mandating all deputy ministers to tender a courtesy resignation.
"Gusto namin mabigyan ng very accurate assessment 'yung mga performances ng ating mga ministries," the chief minister said.
"We opted na mag-issue kami ng memorandum na all ministers must tender their courtesy resignation para mayroon kaming free hand in the assessment of ministries," he said.
"Kapag nakita namin na hindi masyadong nagp-eperform... we can replace," he said.
Ebrahim said he has so far reappointed five of some 15 key ministers, and accepted the resignation of two others.
"Ongoing ang aming assessment and evaluation, at the same time, 'yung hiring at rehiring ng mga ministers," he said.
The Bangsamoro will announce its new set of key officials in about a week, he said.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/23/22/bangsamoro-yet-to-endorse-halalan-2022-presidential-bet
