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COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Muhammad Ali, 74, stood tall and proud before the gates of the Lugay-Lugay Central School, the voting precinct with the highest number of registered voters in Cotabato City.
But what he was facing was a major milestone in the Bangsamoro region’s long road to peace.
He had waited for decades to cast his vote in the historic Bangsamoro plebiscite on Monday, January 21.
Although it was 7:05 am and the school’s gates had yet to open, Ali said he could manage a few more minutes of waiting.
Ali, after all, is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose leaders were instrumental in bringing about the chance for a new Bangsamoro region.
“This is it. I am happy this day has finally come because we’ve worked for it for so long. Our day is here, I am happy,” he said in Filipino.
Ali said Monday he was sure of his choice. He had seen it all, he said, after working as an elementary school teacher then taking jobs in the government – which even included a short stint in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
In these jobs, Ali said he witnessed corruption among government officials working in the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It’s also these jobs which convinced him to join the MILF upon invitation from its founder Hashim Salamat in the 1980s.
In his early years as a rebel, Ali said he taught members in MILF camps discipline and respect for women and children. On Monday, after casting his vote, he said it is respect for all, which he looks forward to the most in the future Bangsamoro region.
“Pantay-pantay na ang lahat ng tao. Kristyano, babae, mga IP (indigenous people), at pati rin kaming mga Muslim,” he said. (Everyone is equal now: Christians, women, IPs, and us Muslims too.)
After joining the MILF as a rebel in the 1980s, Ali said his vote today was the last choice he hoped to make for change. And after today, he said, he would look forward to a quiet life in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. – Rappler.com
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