Bangsamoro's First Elected Parliament Picks Macacua as Chief Minister, Ending Seven Years of Interim Rule

By Kaeleb Savon Heck

COTABATO CITY, Philippines, Nov. 1, 2026 — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has its first elected government. On Friday, Oct. 30, the 80 members of the region's first elected Parliament held their inaugural session in Cotabato City and chose Abdulraof "Sammy Gambar" Macacua as chief minister, ending more than seven years of interim rule under the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

Macacua, who had served as interim chief minister since early 2025, won 51 votes. His only rival, former chief minister and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Ahod Balawag "Al-Haj Murad" Ebrahim, received 27. He took his oath before the Wali of the Bangsamoro, Sheikh Muslim Guiamaden, shortly after the vote. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. attended the opening of the session and addressed the new lawmakers.

The vote completes a transition that began with the 2014 peace agreement between the national government and the MILF. It also shows how much the region's politics have changed: the two men who competed for the top post are both senior MILF leaders, and the contest was decided not on a battlefield or by presidential appointment but by a roll-call vote in a regional legislature.

How the vote played out

Under Republic Act No. 11054, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the chief minister must be elected by a majority of all members of Parliament. In the 80-seat chamber, that means at least 41 votes. According to the regional government's Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO), 79 of the 80 members attended Friday's session, and Macacua's 51 votes came to 63.75 percent of the chamber.

GMA News reported that one member abstained. The Manila Times reported two abstentions and said they were believed to be the two representatives of non-Moro Indigenous Peoples, who stayed independent during weeks of coalition talks. The official tallies agree on the two main numbers, 51 for Macacua and 27 for Ebrahim.

The same 51-to-27 split decided the speakership. Lawyer Amer Zaakaria Rakim of Lanao del Sur was elected Speaker of the Parliament, defeating outgoing transition-era Speaker Mohammad Yacob of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), according to The Manila Times.

The BIO said the chamber also elected two deputy chief ministers, MP Hadjimar Matba for the Southwestern Mindanao subregion and MP Mamintal Adiong III for the North Central Mindanao subregion, along with 10 deputy speakers, a majority floor leader, Johari Abu, and a secretary-general, lawyer Bantuas Lucman. The Manila Times reported that the 27-member minority questioned why none of its members had been nominated for those posts, which led to a long debate on the floor.

A coalition built at the last minute

No party won a majority in the region's first parliamentary elections on Sept. 14. Official BIO figures give Macacua's Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP) 31 seats and the UBJP, the MILF's political party chaired by Ebrahim, 30. The BARMM Grand Coalition holds eight seats and Serbisyong Inklusibo Alyansang Progresibo six. Three smaller parties hold one seat each, and two seats are reserved for representatives of non-Moro Indigenous Peoples.

Because neither front-runner could reach 41 on its own, the weeks between the election and the inaugural session were spent building coalitions. The Manila Times reported that a BFP-led coalition that had earlier claimed 46 members grew to 51 at the last hour, and that three elected UBJP members appeared to have voted for Macacua.

Before the vote, the paper reported, Macacua walked over to Ebrahim's seat in the session hall and embraced him. In his remarks afterward, Macacua called himself a "brother and comrade in arm" of Ebrahim.

What Macacua and Marcos said

In his speech, Macacua described the job as an amanah, or sacred trust, rather than a personal victory, according to the BIO.

"Today is not merely about the assumption of leadership. It is about the continuing fulfillment of a promise," he said.

He also reached out to the lawmakers who voted against him. "As Chief Minister, I shall endeavor to be a leader for everyone at every time—not only for those who have placed their confidence in me, but equally for those who have expressed their reservations or chosen a different path," he said. "For the Bangsamoro is greater than any one of us. Its cause is greater than our differences. And its future is a great responsibility that we must carry together."

Speaking directly to Ebrahim, Macacua pledged to keep the Moral Governance Agenda that Ebrahim championed during the transition "at the very heart of my leadership."

Marcos, who spoke before the voting began, told the lawmakers that the achievement belonged to everyone involved, "from the organization of the political parties, to the peaceful and transparent conduct of the elections to this day."

"To the Members of this Parliament: Never forget the struggle that people have endured. Serve with humility. Carry the hopes of many generations and honor their sacrifices through good governance," he said, according to the BIO.

The Manila Times reported that the president renewed the national government's support for the peace process and urged the new leaders to align regional programs with national priorities. He described building the new government as a learning process for both Manila and the region as they try to deliver what he called the dividends of peace to the nearly 4.5 million people of the BARMM.

Background: from armed struggle to a parliament

The Bangsamoro government grew out of decades of conflict in Muslim Mindanao. The national government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro on March 27, 2014. That deal led to the Bangsamoro Organic Law, passed in 2018, and the creation of the BARMM in 2019, replacing the older Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Since then, the region has been run by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, an appointed interim body. Ebrahim led it as chief minister from 2019 until 2025, when Marcos appointed Macacua to replace him. According to the BIO, the transition-era Parliament passed 94 Bangsamoro Autonomy Acts and adopted 582 resolutions, including six of seven priority codes.

The region's first parliamentary elections took place on Sept. 14. The Commission on Elections' regional board of canvassers recorded a turnout of 84.34 percent, with 2,018,478 people voting, the BIO said.

The new chamber blends three kinds of seats: 40 for regional political parties, 32 for geographic districts and eight for sectoral representatives, including women, youth, Islamic scholars known as Ulama, traditional leaders, settler communities and non-Moro Indigenous Peoples.

Macacua's own career tracks the region's arc. According to the BIO, he was an MILF fighter and military leader, then a member of the MILF peace negotiating panel and a commissioner of the body that drafted the Bangsamoro Organic Law. In the transition government he served as minister of environment, natural resources and energy from 2019 to 2022 and later as senior minister. In 2023, Marcos named him officer-in-charge of the newly created province of Maguindanao del Norte, making him its first governor. In September he won the seat for Maguindanao del Norte's Third District under the BFP, which he chairs.

Analysis

The result settles one question and opens several others.

It settles who runs the region for now. A 51-member bloc is comfortably above the 41-vote threshold, giving Macacua room to form a Cabinet and push a legislative program. Under the Organic Law, he must present a platform of government for Parliament's approval and keep the confidence of the chamber, and most of his Cabinet must come from among the lawmakers.

But the split inside the MILF's political family is now out in the open. The movement that negotiated the peace deal is represented by two rival parties led by two of its most senior figures, and the minority's complaint about being shut out of leadership posts suggests the rivalry will continue on the floor. How Macacua handles the 27 lawmakers who backed Ebrahim, and whether the UBJP chooses to act as a cooperative partner or a firm opposition, will shape how smoothly the first regular government can pass budgets and laws.

There is also a basic test of delivery. The case for autonomy has always rested on the promise that self-government would bring better services, safer communities and more jobs than rule from Manila did. The new government now owns that promise without the cushion of being a temporary, appointed body.

For readers elsewhere in Mindanao, including here in the Davao Region, the stakes are practical as well as political. A stable Bangsamoro government affects security, trade and travel across the island, and the peace process is one of the most closely watched experiments in conflict resolution in Southeast Asia.

What's next

• Cabinet and platform: Macacua is expected to name the heads of Bangsamoro ministries, offices and agencies and present his platform of government to Parliament for approval.
• Legislation and budget: The new Parliament will take up regional laws, including the remaining priority code from the transition, and will have to approve public spending.
• Term: The members elected in September serve until June 30, 2031, according to the BIO and GMA News.
• The national picture: Marcos has asked the regional government to work closely with national programs. How that cooperation works in practice, and how disputes between the two levels of government are handled, will be one of the first real tests of autonomy under an elected leadership.

Sources

• Bangsamoro Information Office, "Bangsamoro's first elected Parliament convenes to begin regular governance," Oct. 30, 2026: https://bangsamoro.gov.ph/news/latest-news/bangsamoros-first-elected-parliament-convenes-to-begin-regular-governance/
• Bangsamoro Information Office, "Abdulraof Macacua: First Chief Minister of Bangsamoro's Elected Parliament," Oct. 31, 2026: https://bangsamoro.gov.ph/news/latest-news/abdulraof-macacua-first-chief-minister-of-bangsamoros-elected-parliament/
• GMA News, "Abdolraof Macacua is BARMM's first elected Chief Minister," Oct. 30, 2026: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/1007734/abdolraof-macacua-is-barmm-s-first-elected-chief-minister/story/
• The Manila Times, "Macacua elected chief minister; BARMM Parliament inaugural session graced by Marcos," Oct. 30, 2026: https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/10/30/regions/macacua-elected-chief-minister-barmm-parliament-inaugural-session-graced-by-marcos/2458174
• The Snitch Media, "Macacua wins majority vote for BARMM Chief Minister," Oct. 30, 2026: https://thesnitchmedia.com/macacua-wins-majority-vote-for-barmm-chief-minister/