MARAWI City — The Serbisyong Inklusibong Alyansa ng Progresibo (Siap) political party has fielded candidates for the eight parliamentary district seats in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in the Muslim Mindanao parliament.
Eight candidates from the Siap political party filed their certificates of candidacies before the Commission on Elections stationed at the Lanao del Sur provincial capitol in Marawi City amid a short, rousing program by their supporters on Wednesday.
Lanao del Sur Comelec Director Ellis Miguel said besides Siap, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) fielded three candidates,
“We expect the UBJP to register their candidates before the deadline on November 12,” Miguel told reporters.
Siap, a political party under a coalition of traditional politicians called the Bangsamoro Grand Coalition is opposing the UBJP led by interim Parliament Chief Minister Ebrahim Murad and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for Barmm’s 80-seat parliament.
Its Cotabato chapter led by former Barmm minister Naguib Sinarimbo is expected to file its CoCs in Cotabato City today, November 7.
Traditional leaders from the Al-Ittihad Party, Salam Party, and the Bangsamoro People’s Party have coalesced into the Bangsamoro Grand Coalition.
Siap president and Lanao del Sur Mohammad Halid Raki-an Adiong said the Bangsamoro Grand Coalition and Siap are fielding candidates for all seats in the Barmm parliament despite the September 9, 2024, Supreme Court decision to exclude Sulu province from Barmm.
Adiong said they are also concerned about the bill filed by Senate President Chiz Escudero on November 4, that sought to delay the Barmm elections until 2026.
Escudero in filing his bill said pushing back the elections to 2026 will allow officials time to address to address the structural adjustments needed after Sulu’s exclusion.
In the house, House Speaker and Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez also filed House Bill no. 11034 to defer the Barmm elections to May 11, 2026.
Adiong said the loss of Sulu stunned the leaders of the Bangsamoro Grand Coalition especially since Governor Sakur Tan, leader of the Salam party, was expected to run for the chief minister of the parliament.
“He was a great loss for the coalition but we decided to continue to field our candidates. We are not weakened,” he said.
Adiong said he is confident that the Siap would have a good showing in the next year’s elections the political party has 30 mayors of the 39 provinces in Lanao del Sur.
He said for now, they are closely monitoring developments of the bills filed by Escudero and Romualdez in Congress.
