The election of Bongbong Marcos, the son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, as the head of state in the Philippines, where Moro Muslims have made significant gains as a result of a long-term armed and diplomatic struggle, brought along new concerns. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the most powerful political formation of the Philippines Muslims, thinks that a new Marcos era will not bring peace to the Philippines. The victory of Bonbong Marcos, son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, in the presidential elections in the Philippines on May 9 brought new debates. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) did not welcome the election of a member of the family of Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines with an iron fist between 1965 and 1986, and whose name was mentioned with martial law, murders and atrocities against Muslims, as president of the Philippines. MILF leader Haji Murat İbrahim, who has been against the candidacy process of Marcos’ son from the beginning, said that no member of the Marcos family should rule the Philippines so that the painful memories in Moro lands would not be renewed.
The MILF-supported candidate, Leni Robredo, received only half as many votes as Marcos. There is a serious problem of trust towards his son Marcos, who used a moderate language towards Muslims during the election process, but could not bring any criticism to his father's dictatorship. It is another matter of curiosity how the peace process in Bangsamoro will follow during the presidency of Bonbong Marcos, who is expected to prove how different he is from his father.
MILF-SUPPORTED CANDIDATE DID NOT WIN
After 50 years of armed resistance, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which led the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Administration by sitting at the peace table with the Philippine government, carefully follows Marcos's political moves. MILF leader Haji Murat Ibrahim described the May 9 elections as "a historic election for the people of Bangsamoro". Supporting Robredo, in the Leni vs Marcos presidential election MILF leader Ibrahim had taken a determined opposition stance against Marcos' candidacy. Ibrahim, who is the interim prime minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said, "We are concerned about Marcos' victory and the return of the Marcos name to power. The damage and wounds that Ferdinand Marcos inflicted on Moro Muslims are still fresh. Although Bongbong is not the person behind the persecutions, he bears his father's name. Muslims will relive the pain of dictatorship every time they hear this name."
DEFENDING HIS FATHER'S SINS
Bonbong Marcos, who made moderate rhetoric towards Muslims during the election process and congratulated Muslims on Eid al-Fitr, also continues to praise his father's controversial presidency. Saying, "My father's period was a glittering period when the Philippines opened up to the world," his son Marcos avoided criticism of his father's oppressive policies, giving the impression that he could follow his father's footsteps during the presidency. Because in a statement published by the MILF, concerns on this issue were expressed. In a joint statement issued before the election by a group of commanders affiliated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, “Ferdinand Marcos was the mortal enemy of Muslims. He waged a brutal genocidal war against our people. His era was bloody and brutal for the Muslims and indigenous peoples of Mindanao. If son Marcos wins, Bangsamoro loses. The father's sins are not the son's sins, yes, but the son, who does not see what his father did wrong, will eventually copy him and become the father himself,” the statement said.
THE PERIOD OF MARCOS WAS A PERIOD OF MARTIAL LAW AND REPRESSION
Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines between 1965 and 1986, gave the order for bloody massacres especially in Mindanao Island and its surroundings, which are the living spaces of Muslims, with the martial law decision he signed in 1972. In their Islamic struggle against the oppressive practices of the Philippine administration, Moro Muslims, who gave 120,000 martyrs until today, suffered their heaviest losses during the reign of dictator Marcos. Marcos killed 64 Muslim soldiers in the Philippines army in the heinous incident that took place in 1968 and recorded in history as the Jabidah massacre. The period of Marcos, who implemented a population change policy in Moro lands and settled hundreds of thousands of Christian Filipinos in Muslim lands, is described as the darkest period in the political history of the Philippines.