Malacanang appoints new BARMM Chief Minister

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 09 March) —  Malacanang announced on Sunday the appointment of Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua as the new interim Chief Minister for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao  (BARMM), replacing Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, concurrent chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed the appointment of Macacua in an interview with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) on Sunday, March 9.

“Confirming the appointment as Interim Chief Minister of BARMM,” Castro told PCIJ. But no details were given. 

_{Maguindanao del Norte OIC Gov. Abdulraof Macacua in his temporary office in Cotabato City on Tuesday (11 April 2023). MindaNews photo by FERDINANDH CABRERA}

The appointment of a new Chief Minister comes seven months before the BARMM parliamentary elections.

Macacua is the chief of staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MNLF), the revolutionary group that signed a peace deal with government – the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) — on March 27, 2014. 

The peace pact’s enabling law, RA 11054, was ratified in January 2019 and then President Rodrigo Duterte appointed the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) in February 2019, among them Macacua. Murad appointed Macacua as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and later as Senior Minister, before he was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. as Governor of the newly-created Maguindanao del Norte. 

Ebrahim, chair of the MILF since Salamat Hashim’s death in 2000, was the interim Chief Minister from 2019 under the Duterte administration and was reappointed to the same post by Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in August 2022. 

Murad has not issued a statement. The MILF has not issued a statement as well. 

BARMM spokesperson, Mohd Asnin Pendatun was clueless also about the recent development and was waiting for more details on the appointment. 

Social media posts, however, drew mixed reactions – a number expressed disbelief while others congratulated the new leader.  

The BARMM’s first parliamentary elections would have been held on May 12, 2025 but this was reset to October 13 this year. Eighty members of the Bangsamoro Parliament will be elected. The Members of Parliament will elect the Chief Minister. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)