Iqbal: Oathtaking Seems a Simple Ceremony

But Crucial to BARMM Moral Governance

COTABATO CITY – For the over 500 new appointees and those promoted in the Bangsamoro Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) taking an oath may look just a simpleceremony.

But no. It means more than just raising one’s hand and reciting the oath.

In fact, particularly for the 544 newly hired and promoted teaching and non-teaching personnel of the MBHTE headed by Minister Mohagner M. Iqbal,it has deeper meanings.

“Its meaning and relevance are crucial to realizing Moral Governance and delivering government services to our constituents in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” Iqbal emphasizes.

He gave this reminder at the Mass Signing of Appointments and Oath taking here on Tuesday, April 11. Some of the new appointees were applicants since 2018 in the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Iqbal, who wears many hats in the more than 40 years old Mindanao peaceprocess, and other speakers at the event, in English and Pilipino, such as MBHTE Deputy Minister Atty. Haron Meling, MBHTE Director General for Basic Education Abdullah Salik, Jr., Ustadhz Hussain Abdul Kahar, Member of Parliament (MP) Eddie Alih, and BARMM Metro Manila Liaison Office (BMMLO) Director Gafur A. Kanain, their remarks focused on practicing Moral Governance and applying the values so cherished in the revealed Islamic Holy Book, the Noble Qur an, on enjoining good and shunning evil.

Kahar started off, speaking in Pilipino. “True Muslims do not lie. True Muslims do not steal. Among true Muslims there is no corruption,” he asserts, addressing the new appointees who joined the MBHTE family.

Iqbal, chair of the MILF Peace Implementing

Panel, laid down the description of the Bangsamoro government’s “Moral Governance”, which BARMM Chief Minister Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim since day of the MILF governance has enunciated and repeated many times.

Moral Governance is enshrined in the BARMM Employee Handbook. It is “the set of rules, practices, and processes that are completely devoid of all evil and corruption, explicitly driven by moral principles of dedication, devotion, honesty, justice, and integrity,” the eduation minister underscores, quoting from the handbook.

“It sets a higher ethical standard for all officials in the BARMM, whether elected or appointed and the entire bureaucracy in fulfilling their responsibilities,” Iqbal says of the blueprint on Moral Governance.

On the other hand, Iqbal, also a Minister of Parliament in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), told the new hires that taking an oath brings commitment that to fulfill the duties, responsibilities, and obligations of your office.

“You are pledging to perform your duties truthfully and with honor. In other words, you are morally obligated to carry out your mandate because the law requires it, and as a Bangsamoro, we must do so,” Iqbal empha-

Dozens of people were killed in the latest junta airstrikes in Myanmar on Tuesday, theunity governmentin exileclaimed.

“About 100 people of Kanbalu in Sagaing, including children and women, were killed by Myanmar military juntas airstrikes,” the Labor Ministry of the National Unity Government (NUG) said on Twitter.

The airstrikes by junta jets which targeted the inauguration ceremony of a People’s Administration Team office in the village of Pa Zi Gyi caused condemnation and criticism by the UN, US, and Switzerland, among others.

A statement by ASEAN said ending the violence “would be the only way to create a conducive environment for an inclusive national dialogue to find a sustainable peaceful solution in Myanmar.”

“We reiterate ASEAN’s commitment to continue assisting Myanmar in seeking a workable and durable solution to the ongoing crisis through promoting the full implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,” the statement added.

Interestingly, Myanmar's Permanent Representative to the ASEAN Aung Myo Myint met with the bloc's Secretary-General KaoKim Hourn on Thursday in Jakarta. Aung and Kao discussed and exchanged views on the "implementation of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus and the recent developments in Myanmar," the bloc said on Twitter, withoutproviding further details.

Extending support to the ASEAN statement, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said: "Any attack on civilians is reprehensible and cannot be condoned."

"Singapore is gravely concerned by these attacks. We reiterate our commitment to work with Indonesia, other ASEAN Member States, and our external partners to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Myanmar, in line with the Five-Point Consensus," Balakrishnan tweeted.

The Peoples Administration Team office operates under the NUG which the country’s military junta has designated a terrorist organization.

Myanmarturmoiland5-PointConsensus plan sizes.

In both his extemporaneous and written speech, he urged the new members of the MBHTE family to cherish their appointments for the Bangsamoro autonomous region was “not given in a silver platter. We paid for this with tears, sweat, and blood”.

Iqbal was apparently referring to thedecades of Bangsamoro struggle for self-determination in an internecine war triggered by the infamous 1968 Jabidah Massacre on Corregidor Island in Luzon’s Cavite province, and the subsequent Mindanao peace process with the with the Philippine government that started off with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement and 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) and concluded with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with the signing in 2014 of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and its implementation which is seen to continue in the years ahead. EDDK.USMAN

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's government over two years ago.

The NUG was formed after the Burmese military, locally known as Tatmadaw, ousted the government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) in February 2021.

The Myanmar junta also disbanded the NLD after it said the deadline for political parties to re-register under a new electoral law expired. The NLD and 40 others parties on Tuesday failed tocomply with thenewlaw.

ASEAN is apolitical and economic union of 10 member states, including Myanmar, in Southeast Asia. It promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, and sociocultural integration among itsmembersin Asia-Pacific.

Soon after the February 2021 coup launched by Myanmar's military, ASEAN issued the Five-Point Consensus plan, also called the 5PCs, when Brunei was at the helm of the regional grouping.

The military takeover triggered mass protests in Myanmar, with the junta's forces killing more than 1,500 people in a crackdown on dissent, according to the local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

While the protests have recently decreased, ASEAN's 5PCs called on all parties in Buddhist-majority Myanmar to cease violence in the country and "exercise utmost restraint."

Urging a "constructive dialogue among all parties," the regional bloc said that doing so would involve seeking "apeaceful solution in the interests of the people."

It also appointed aspecial envoy of the ASEAN chair to facilitate mediation of the dialogue process. The envoy would be assisted by thebloc's secretary-general.

Under the 5PCs, ASEAN also provides humanitarian assistance, through its Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, to Myanmar, while the special envoy was assigned toundertake visits to Myanmar to "meet with all parties concerned."

ASEAN has held several summits and meetings since the latest military coup in Myanmar but has stopped inviting juntarepresentatives. (Antara)