Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim expressed confidence the candidates of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s political party will “most likely win” in parliamentary elections in 2025.
“For the last three years, we tried our best to strengthen the political party. Just last week, we have the first general assemblyand the turnout of the supporters of the party was very high,” Ebrahim said at a forum held Thursday by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).
The former rebel group’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) fielded candidates in less than half of the contested seats in Cotabato City and the provinces of Maguindanao and Basilan, and even fewer in Tawi-tawi and Lanao del Sur in the first elections held in the newly-formed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2022.
It won, however, the mayoralty in Cotabato City, then the seat of the autonomous region, which is composed of five provinces, two cities and several communities. The MILF holds a 41-seat majority in the 80-member BARMM transitory parliament.
“In the past, we have not organized many of our branches in the provinces. Now we are fully organized and we are quite confident that our candidates for parliament in 2025 will most likely win,” said Murad in an online interview.
In the same forum, Liberal Party spokesperson Leila de Lima said the opposition party will be fielding former Senators Kiko Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, and lawyer Chel Diokno for the Senate in 2025.
She also said the LP is considering former Vice President Leni Robredo to head the party’s ticket.
De Lima, who was released after six years in detention last November, admitted that the LP was “decimated” during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
She said she has “no plans” to run for any political post at this time.