‘You have my word, sir’: Macacua’s hat tip to Murad

Abdulraof Macacua, the newly-installed Bangsamoro chief minister, started his term with a deference and a nod to his predecessor, Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim. The election of the first chief minister in the region’s regular parliament was a battle between Macacua and Murad. The result was as predicted. Macacua garnered 51 votes while Murad got 27 votes. Near the end of his inaugural address on Friday, October 30, Macacua addressed Murad in front of the 80-member parliament: “To our chairman in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Honorable Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim. Sir, I want to personally assure you that the moral governance agenda you have started and steadfastly championed will remain at the very heart of my leadership. ” Macacua and Murad’s recent history had been rocky since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. installed Macacua as interim chief minister to replace Murad in 2025.

What followed was a widening of rifts within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) . In the run up to the elections, Macacua ran as an independent and later on became chairman of the newfound Bangsamoro Federalist Party. Macacua’s rivaled the MILF’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party. And months before the elections, Macacua was suspended as MILF’s military chief for being “inconsistent” with the group’s political line. His moves had upset members and supporters of the MILF, those who remain loyal to Murad’s leadership. Despite the divergence, Macacua was said to still retain a certain respect to Murad. Macacua, after all, was Murad’s subordinate in the MILF. But all that is in the past now. It seemed the two have reached an impasse after the violent election and the huge gap between votes. As Macacua leads the new government, the MILF leadership will be at work seeing the peace process…