ZAMBOANGA CITY – Incumbent officials here set aside partisan rivalry and appeared before the Commission on Elections on Friday (Dec. 7) to file their opposition to the inclusion of two predominantly Muslim barangays in next month’s plebiscite to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
The Comelec En Banc held a hearing in its main office in Manila on the same day to consider the so-called resolutions of the city’s barangays Busay and Landang Gua – located in Sacol Island -- that were filed separately last month.
The barangays supposedly petitioned the poll body to be included in the BOL plebiscite with the aim of becoming part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which the BOL would create.
In the Comelec hearing, the barangay chairpersons of Busay and Landang Gua disowned the resolutions, saying they oppose the inclusion in the forthcoming plebiscite.
They reiterated their testimonies made before the city council hearing last November 19.
In the Sangguniang Panlungsod hearing, Antonio Abdullah, Barangay Busay chairman, denied that he and his seven kagawads (councilors) held a session last October 21 during which they approved the purported resolution.
He and his councilmen added that their signatures on the document were forged.
The councilors of Landang Gua admitted that they affixed their signatures on their resolution but were misled to believe that it was to request for the construction of a water system and solar panels in their island barangay.
Landang Gua chairman Benjamin Adjullah said he did not sign the controversial resolution.
Zamboanga City congressman Celso Lobregat provided the two barangay chairmen with legal counsels to assist them in their appearance before the poll body in Manila, for which they filed written verified opposition against inclusion.
Lobregat was a member of the House of Representatives committee that formulated the BOL and of the bicameral committee that approved its final version.
Lobregat has led and expressed opposition by the city’s residents to join the Bangsamoro autonomous government.
Over 90 percent of local voters have rejected inclusion in two past plebiscites of previous organic acts.
“Landang Gua Barangay Chairman Benjamin Adjulla and Busay Barangay Chairman Antonio Abdulla personally appeared before COMELEC En Banc to testify that their Barangays are not in favor of joining the BBL,” Lobregat said in a Facebook post.
“The said Barangay Chairmen have asked the guidance, counsel and assistance from Congressman Celso Lobregat on their position and petition regarding their non-inclusion in the Bangsamoro”, he added.
City Mayor Ma. Isabel Climaco-Salazar also appeared before the Comelec body to convey her sentiments on behalf of the city.
In her Facebook post, the mayor said she “emphasized that the city and all its 98 component barangays, of which 8 are islands, are not in any way contiguous to the island province of Basilan.”
“She further stood firm that Zamboanga City is not under the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) nor any area identified and proposed to be core territories of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)”, the post added.
She and Lobregat were accompanied by Zamboanga City congressman Mannix Dalipe (2nd Dist.), several city councilors, and city legal counsel Atty. Jesus Carbon, Jr.
Aside from the authenticity of the two barangay resolutions, it also hinged on the question whether the barangays and the city are contiguous to the BOL-delineated territory.
The BOL provides that barangays or LGUs contiguous to the Bangsamoro region but not in its pre-listed core territory may petition to be included by at least 10 percent of its voters subject to verification.
Two other local barangays have also reportedly filed pro-BOL plebiscite resolutions with the city’s Comelec office, which is still evaluating the documents. (PNA)
