The Daily Manila Shimbun

 

MILF chair confident of BOL ratification

March 18, 2019

The much-awaited plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was held on Jan. 21, 2019 in five provinces (Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-tawi, Sulu, and Basilan; and two cities (Cotabato, Isabela) in the southern Philippines. The official result is expected to be announced by the Commission on Elections in Manila on Friday. If ratified, the BOL establishes the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which replaces the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. The BOL is the result of decades-long negotiations between the Philippine government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which has fought for 40 years to win self-rule in the troubled region.

The interview by a group of foreign media with MILF Chair Murad Ebrahim was conducted shortly before the close of voting hours on Jan 21 inside the main MILF camp in Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, in Maguindanao province, about 5 kilometers east of Cotabato City.
It was arranged by the Global Media Affairs Office of the government’s Presidential