Thread: Tensions High in Philippine City Over Joining Autonomous Muslim Region

Security forces were on high alert in Cotabato city on Monday after government officials here said they got death threats for opposing its inclusion in an autonomous Muslim region in the southern Philippines.


On Tuesday, Cotabato officially becomes part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, nearly a year after a majority of residents voted for the city to be included in BAARM.


Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, the city’s mayor, had questioned the vote’s results.


“Today, some officials of the city government of Cotabato and I have received anonymous text messages from multiple unknown numbers. These messages contain threats to the city and our personal lives,” Sayadi said in a statement.


“It is very disheartening that it seems like we have no freedom to express what we truly feel and to serve as the voice of our Cotabatenos in rejecting the BARMM.”


Deputy Mayor Graham Dumama, City Administrator Danda Duanday and two other officials had also received threats, Guiani-Sayadi said.


On Monday, marines and police guarded vital installations in Cotabato, manned roadblocks and checked all vehicles going in and out of the city.


Murad Ebrahim, leader of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, said he had ordered an investigation to ensure Guiani-Sayadi’s safety.


Murad heads the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a former separatist guerrilla group, as well as the transitional government in five provinces and a handful of districts, which make up the autonomous region.


He said other armed groups, including guerrillas who had split from MILF and voiced allegiance to Islamic State extremists might pose a threat on Tuesday.


“We have extended an invitation to the mayor for tomorrow, it’s up to her to accept it or not,” Murad told BenarNews.


“Cotabato will be turned over to BARMM tomorrow. We would want her to attend to express her support and cooperation.”


After the referendum Guiani-Sayadi filed a case in the Supreme Court and a complaint with the election commission to challenge the vote’s results. The case is pending.


“I have always been vocal about my stand on this matter and despite all the threats that I have received because of this, I have never faltered nor have I succumbed to fear,” she said.


Guiani-Sayadi alleged that the Cotabato referendum was rigged and MILF members had intimidated voters. The former armed separatists have repeatedly denied the allegations.


President Rodrigo Duterte had agreed to keep the status quo in Cotabato City until December, in the hope that the court would have settled the case. Meanwhile, BARMM’s interior ministry said last month that the city would soon be placed under its supervision.


BARMM’s government is situated in Cotabato, and Guiani-Sayadi fears that the city could lose its fiscal independence by joining the autonomous region.


Murad, who is head of BARMM until 2022, has been lobbying for his term to be extended by three years. A proposed law to facilitate this extension is with the Philippine Congress.


Earlier this month, Murad told BenarNews that he would need his term extended to put in place reforms required before local voters elect their own government in 2022.


The coronavirus pandemic and ongoing threats from Islamic State-linked militant groups in the south had slowed the reform process, he said.


Threats from groups such as the Abu Sayyaf Group and its various factions have thwarted a major reform goal – decommissioning the weapons of former MILF fighters, Murad said.


Earlier this month, police in Cotabato killed a man allegedly linked to a 2018 bombing that killed two people at a shopping mall.

Tensions High in Philippine City Over Joining Autonomous Muslim Region — BenarNews

I guess if you had a bar there you're fucked.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I guess if you had a bar there you're fucked.

I doubt there's many bars there and probably no more fucked than owning one in Pattaya.

Originally Posted by Topper

I doubt there's many bars there and probably no more fucked than owning one in Pattaya.

I would think very much more fucked than owning one in Pattaya as if you ever risked opening again you'd probably get burned down at best.

Cotabato is considered as belonging to the deep South, majority Muslim area. I wouldn't advise white foreigners to go there, unless with armed guards. Travel at your own risk!

Remember Gracia & Martin Burnham (google is your friend).

Expats live there and you can get a beer- seems OK.

Southwest Mindanao (where Cotabato belongs) - there are travel advisories regarding that area (US govt, for example). If one travels there despite the warning, one's travel insurance is void.

There was a British guy - expat, has lived there for 15+ years, has businesses including beach resort & school. He was kidnapped (for ransom) sometime last year - there's a thread about it here somewhere. I think he lived in Zamboanga, a nearby province.

As I've said, travel or live at your own risk.

Autonomous Muslim Govt Takes Control of Philippine City

The Philippine government formally transferred control of the southern city of Cotabato to an autonomous Muslim region on Tuesday, amid tight security against potential attacks by Islamic State-linked militants.


During a ceremony here supporters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a former rebel group, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) as Interior Secretary Eduardo Año handed over documents that officially named the southern city as part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.


“We will continue to improve the standard of governance to cater to the needs of the people,” Año said during his speech, as he sought to assure BARMM head and MILF chief Murad Ebrahim of ongoing support from Manila.


Año urged the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group from MILF, to stop attacks and instead help to work for development in the troubled region.


BIFF splintered from Moro Islamic Liberation Front when the latter signed a peace deal with the government. MILF today governs the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.


Some factions of BIFF have pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) but did not join a raid in the southern city of Marawi in 2017. A five-month siege there by pro-IS fighters and a battle that ensued with government forces killed an estimated 1,200 enemy combatants, soldiers and civilians, including Isnilon Hapilon, the IS leader in the Philippines.


Responding to Año’s message, Naguib Sinarimbo, the spokesman for BARMM and one of its leaders, said its government would work towards improving the region, one of the country’s poorest after decades of armed separatist insurgency.


“I commit to implement the law and provide all the necessary technical assistance to ensure that these local government units can optimize their performance for better services,” Sinarimbo said.


In his message, Murad said his side was pleased to accept the responsibility of supervising Cotabato City and the 63 villages that fall under its jurisdiction.


Murad, as head of the MILF, also leads BARMM’s transitional government that administers five provinces and a handful of districts, which make up the autonomous region.


“We will make sure that BARMM’s development will echo to the city and 63 villages with no constituents left behind regardless of faith or affiliation,” Murad said.


Murad also assured the safety of city residents, even though he had acknowledged earlier that militants still posed a threat to the city.


Since Monday, police had fanned out across the city to thwart any attempts by militants to sow terror during the official turnover.


The seat of BARMM’s government is located in Cotabato, but city leaders fear it could lose fiscal independence through joining the autonomous region.


Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi has refused to cede control of the city to the former rebels, saying she would wait for a ruling by the Supreme Court, although a majority of city residents had voted in favor of inclusion in the autonomous region.


On Monday, she claimed that she and other city officials had received threats from unknown people for her prolonged defiance of inclusion into BARMM.


“Much as we have opposed the inclusion and the turnover, we took the democratic process and that is to bring the case to the Supreme Court and until now, we are still waiting for a resolution,” she said.


“So now, we leave the fate of our city to the hands of the Supreme Court. Whatever the result may be, rest assured, the Cotabato City LGU (local government unit) will continue to be a government by the people and for the people,” the mayor added.


Autonomous Muslim Govt Takes Control of Philippine City — BenarNews

Originally Posted by misskit

Whatever the result may be, rest assured, the Cotabato City LGU (local government unit) will continue to be a government by the people and for the people,” the mayor added.

That's until they put the Imam and his cronies in charge.