ISTANBUL 

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week re-appointed Murad Ebrahim as interim chief minister of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).

The new term will conclude in May 2025 and elections are expected to be held in June that year.

“We are thankful to President Bongbong for adhering to provisions of law and agreement regarding the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority,” Ebrahim told Anadolu Agency by phone Tuesday from Cotabato city.

Marcos Jr. is popularly known as Bongbong in the archipelago nation.

The swearing-in ceremony of the chief minister and 80 members of parliament was held last Friday in Manila.

39 of the 80 members are new faces, while the rest were re-appointed from the last parliament.

Under the agreement, Ebrahim said the government will be led by the MILF and most of the lawmakers in parliament will be from the organization.

41 of the 80-member parliament represent the MILF, while 39 others were picked by the Philippines president from nominations made by local governments of Bangsamoro, members of the Philippine Congress and Senate and other organizations from the semi-autonomous region.

“Marcos told us that elections in the region will be held in 2025,” Ebrahim said, adding “President Bongbong said there will be no more extension.”

“We will try our best to complete the tasks assigned to our administration in the agreement,” he said.

Of the six priority codes of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the chief minister said the outgoing parliament completed four, and “two will be completed within this year.”

The Bangsamoro parliament has completed codes on administration, civil services, education and local government while revenue and electoral codes are under process.

“We are quite confident that President Marcos will follow what is provided in the law and the BOL and comprehensive agreement on Bangsamoro,” Ebrahim said.

He said the last parliament completed over 100 resolutions and bills in the past three years.

In 2018, a decades-long insurgency by the MILF led to peace negotiations with the Philippine government, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was formed.

The regional government is run by the BTA, led by Ebrahim, who was elected the first chief minister in February 2019.

The mandate of the transitional authority was due to end this year, but the Philippine government under former President Rodrigo Duterte extended it until 2025 to allow Ebrahim and his team to achieve all targets, including the decommissioning of former MILF fighters.

- Marcos' move welcomed

The Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) on Bangsamoro in a statement Tuesday said it welcomes the support by the Philippine president to the Bangsamoro peace process.

It said Marcos has “ensured a proper legal framework for the BARMM during the second part of the transition period until May 2025.

“These were positive steps in the implementation of the peace process in Mindanao,” the statement said, wishing success to Ebrahim during their second term.

Laure Beaufils, the UK’s ambassador to Philippines, on Tuesday also expressed support to the newly re-appointed BARMM.

“The UK has been a steadfast supporter of the Bangsamoro peace process or many years,” Beaufils said, referring to London’s role in the International Contact Group on Bangsamoro.

The UK is now also engaging with the BARMM for capacity building of the BTA members.

“Peace is not a line you cross, but a road you take. I look forward to working with both the national government and the BTA to ensure sustained peace in the BARMM and enable the region to benefit from peace, prosperity and inclusive and sustainable development,” she added.