Macacua ally secures parliament seat for BFP in Cotabato City 3rd District

BFP. Bangsamoro Federalist Party founding chairman Tomanda Antok. Antok's Facebook page Tomanda Antok will keep his post in the Bangsamoro Parliament, despite being stripped of his position in the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces a week before the BARMM polls Tomanda Antok, chairman of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, won a key parliament seat in Cotabato City with 49.92% of the votes, defeating rival candidates including one from the United Bangsamoro Justice Party. Antok's victory is significant as it strengthens the faction of interim chief minister Abdulraof Macacua, providing an additional vote for the election of the BARMM chief minister. Antok will serve a special five-year transition term in the Bangsamoro Parliament, which consists of 32 district representatives, and his win follows a leadership rift within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. MANILA, Philippines – Tomanda Antok, founding chairman of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP), won a key parliament seat in one of the three districts of Cotabato City, the regional government center and capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Antok obtained 9,223 or 49.92 % of the votes, according to Cotabato City’s certificates of canvass from the Commission on Elections’ website. He is an ally of interim chief minister and current BFP chair Abdulraof Macacua. This means that Antok will not only keep his position as a member of the Bangsamoro Parliament, but that Macacua’s faction has secured one more vote for the eventual election of the BARMM chief minister. Antok defeated two other candidates for Cotabato City’s 3rd District seat, including the bet of the BFP’s rival party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The UBJP’s Hashim Baluno Manticayan used to be deputy minister of the BARMM Ministry of Science and Technology. He lost to Antok by a mere 253 votes, after getting 8,970 or 48.55 % of the votes. Former Barangay Poblacion 3 official Reynaldo Largo Canen of the Bangsamoro Empowerment and Social Transformation Party ranked last with 283 or 1.53 % of the votes. High-stakes race Antok’s win over a UBJP bet is especially significant because of his history with the MILF and its political party. Macacua, Antok, and their allies in the BFP had been stripped of their positions in the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) just a week before the BARMM polls. A news release by the MILF’s information committee owed it to “a leadership rift years in the making.” It apparently began when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. unceremoniously replaced Al Haj Murad Ebrahim as interim chief minister with then-MILF army chief Abdulraof Macacua in March 2025. (READ: MILF central committee frowns on BARMM leadership change) Tensions only grew as Macacua began making decisions as chief minister without consulting the MILF. In the end, Macacua and several other high-ranking MILF officials, including Antok, defected from the UBJP to the BFP. Macacua and his cohorts had been suspended from their positions in the BIAF for months before they were eventually removed — though they remain members of the MILF. Antok was a general staff member of the BIAF at the time of his removal. Like other newly elected parliament members, Antok will serve a special five-year transition term from October 30, 2026, to June 30, 2031. He will be one of the 32 district representatives making up 40% of the 80-seat Bangsamoro Parliament. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading