CoC filing in BARMM smooth, orderly

COTABATO CITY — All went well in the three-day filing of certificates of candidacy (CoCs) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for Bangsamoro’s first parliamentary polls in September.

Officials of Comelec started processing CoCs of aspirants on Tuesday, an activity secured by the Philippine National Police and the military’s Western Mindanao Command until its culmination on Thursday.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) covers the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato, where BARMM’s regional capitol is located.

Candidates of the four largest BARMM partisan blocs, the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, the Bangsamoro Party of the Moro National Liberation Front, the Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo, and the United Bangsamoro Justice Party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have all filed their CoCs in Comelec’s regional and provincial offices in the autonomous region.

A ranking official of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, BARMM parliament member Naguib A. Sinarimbo, told reporters on Thursday that all of their candidates complied with Comelec’s documentary requisites.

The figurehead of the Bangsamoro Party, BARMM’s Labor Minister Muslimin G. Sema, said on Thursday that the filing of CoCs by their candidates went smoothly.

“There wasn’t any problem at all,” Mr. Sema said, referring to the conduct of the three-day activity that provincial and the regional offices of the Comelec facilitated.

Among the candidates who beat Thursday’s deadline for the filing of CoCs were Mr. Sinarimbo and two other members of the parliament, Ishak V. Mastura and Kadil M. Sinolinding, Jr.

Mr. Mastura is aspiring for the parliamentary seat covering the adjoining Sultan Kudarat and Sultan Mastura towns in Maguindanao del Norte.

Mr. Sinolinding, who is also serving as BARMM’s Health minister in concurrent capacity, is an independent candidate for the parliamentary post in the second district of the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area, comprised of eight newly created towns inside the core territory of Cotabato province.

Ray A. Sumalipao, Comelec’s regional director for BARMM, said on Thursday that they are grateful to the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and to the military’s Western Mindanao Command for securing their offices during the three-day CoC filing activity. — John Felix M. Unson