Authorities enforce tight BOL plebiscite security measures

COTABATO CITY – Security has been so tight in the 37 barangays here whose residents will participate in a plebiscite Monday that would seal the fate of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).The Commission on Elections will administer the plebiscite in the 118 towns in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, in the cities of Isabela and Cotabato, in parts of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato provinces, to determine if residents are amenable to have their communities grouped together under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM.Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Army’s 6thInfantry Division, said Sunday a big number of soldiers have been deployed in strategic spots in Cotabato City and in nearby Maguindanao province.He said the national highways connecting the southern and northern parts of Maguindanao to Cotabato City have also been secured.Members of the inter-agency provincial peace and order council, chaired by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, said they are certain of a peaceful plebiscite on Monday since all of the 36 mayors in the province are for the ratification of the BOL.Mangudadatu on Sunday said he and his younger sibling, Freddie, mayor of Mangudadatu town and president of the provincial league of mayors, are sure of an overwhelming affirmative vote for the BOL from local voters. There is nothing to worry about. The plebiscite in Maguindanao shall be peaceful, Mangudadatu said.Tension between the pro-BOL and anti-BOL camps in Cotabato City has been so high.Both camps have been attacking each other on social media and via text messages, worsening the apprehensions of local residents.Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi is campaigning against the BOL.The mayor is opposed to the inclusion of the 37 barangays here into the core territory of an MILF-led BARMM.Superintendent Aldrin Gonzalez, spokesman of the Police Regional Office-12, said Sunday there is no basis for circulating text messages purporting that the city is under threat from saboteurs out to derail the conduct of Monday’s BOL plebiscite. The PRO-12 and its military counterparts are in control, Gonzalez said.He said their regional director, Chief Superintendent Eliseo Rasco, is coordinating PRO-12’s security efforts in Cotabato City with the 6thID and the ceasefire committee of the MILF.The government and the MILF are bound by an interim security pact, the 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities, to cooperate in addressing peace and security issues besetting potential flashpoint areas in southern provinces.If ratified via a plebiscite on Monday, the BOL shall pave the way for the replacement of ARMM with an MILF-led BARMM and the decommissioning of secessionist rebels.