Murad Ebrahim Explained

Murad Ebrahim
Office:Chief Minister of Bangsamoro
President:Rodrigo Duterte
Bongbong Marcos
1Blankname:Wa'lī
1Namedata:Khalipa Usman Nando
Omarkhalid Ampatuan
Said Salendab
Muslim Guiamaden
Term Start:22 February 2019
Office1:Bangsamoro Minister of Public Works
Term Start1:26 February 2019
Term End1:11 November 2019
Predecessor1:Position established
Successor1:Eduard Guerra
1Blankname1:Chief Minister
1Namedata1:Himself
Office2:Bangsamoro Minister of Finance
Term Start2:11 November 2019
Term End2:8 February 2022
Predecessor2:Eduard Guerra
Successor2:Ubaida Pacasem
1Blankname2:Chief Minister
Office3:Member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament
Term Start3:29 March 2019
1Blankname3:Chief Minister
1Namedata2:Himself
Birth Name:Ahod Balawag Ebrahim
Birth Date:15 May 1949
Birth Place:Cotabato, Philippines[1]
Party:UBJP
Education:Notre Dame University
Nickname:Murad
Allegiance: Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
Serviceyears:1968–1977 (MNLF)
1977–present (MILF)

Ahod Balawag Ebrahim[2] (pronounced as /mdh/; Jawi: احد بلاوݢ ابرحیم; born 15 May 1949), better known as Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, is a Moro Filipino politician and former rebel leader currently serving as the first chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

As the current chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Moro regionalist and Islamist armed group in the southern Philippines, Ebrahim is a key figure in the Bangsamoro Peace Process in the Philippines.[3] [4]

Early life and education

Born on 15 May 1949,[5] Murad Ebrahim was born to an Islamic preacher. He lost both of his parents at a young age; his mother when he was just one year old and his father when he was 13 years old.[6] He is the youngest among four children.[7]

Ebrahim started his elementary studies when he was seven years old and completed the six-year program in five years. He entered the Cotabato Public High School in Cotabato City for his high school studies in 1960. After graduating from high school, Ebrahim enrolled at the Mindanao State University in Marawi under a scholarship but transferred to the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City in his second year after passing the entrance examination. He was granted a scholarship in Notre Dame by the Commission on National Integration (CIN)[7] and pursued a course on civil engineering. However he stopped his studies in his fifth and final year in college in 1970 to get more involved in the Moro movement.[6]

Militant career

Moro National Liberation Front

Murad dropped out of college to join the underground movement which fought against Christian paramilitary groups and security forces during the administration of then-president Ferdinand Marcos allegedly targeting Muslims.[6] He adopted "Murad" as his nom de guerre when he joined the Moro resistance against the government.[2] Ebrahim first got involved in the underground Moro secessionist movement as early as 1968 prior to fully committing in 1970.[7]

He was recruited into the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1968 and was part of the "Top 300", a second batch of MNLF trainees sent to Malaysia.[2] He was appointed a zonal commander with his area of assignment covering 15 municipalities.[7]

Ebrahim led the group's Kutawato Revolutionary Committee in fighting against government forces and the Ilaga paramilitary group in Central Mindanao.[2] He was Military Chairman of Kutawato from 1974 until 1978 when he was promoted as Region Chairman. When Hashim Salamat organized a faction within the MNLF, Ebrahim was appointed chairman of the Ad Hoc Coordinating Committee to lead the faction's activities in Mindanao, while Salamat is abroad.[7]

Moro Islamic Liberation Front

Murad left the MNLF due to ideological differences along with Hashim Salamat who formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).[2] In the 1980s, Ebrahim went to Afghanistan to meet with Filipino rebels fighting against the forces of the Soviet Union amid the Soviet–Afghan War though he said has not fought alongside them. There he also met Osama bin Laden, who would later become the head of Al-Qaeda describing him as a soft-spoken and refined man who would have never thought to be declared "a world enemy".[6]

He developed a reputation within the MILF as one of its top guerrilla commanders. He served as vice chair for military affairs and as chief of staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed wing of the MILF before he was appointed as MILF chairman in mid-2003 to replace MILF founder Salamat who died within the same year. He also served as the group's chief negotiator in talks with the Philippine national government.[2]

Interim chief minister

Upon the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in 2018 under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte,Murad Ebrahim campaigned for the law's ratification by voters that would lead to the establishment of the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. He was nominated by his group, the MILF, to be the chief minister of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) which would serve as the interim government in the region.[8]

On 22 February 2019, Ebrahim was appointed and sworn in by Duterte as the interim chief minister of the newly formed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).[9] He leads the 80-member BTA, which will govern the five-province Bangsamoro region. Scheduled elections for the new members for the region's parliament took place in 2022.[10]

At the official turnover of the ARMM to BARMM on February 26, 2019, Ebrahim announced the members of the first Bangsamoro Cabinet, with himself as concurrent minister of public works and highways.[11] On 11 November 2019, he transferred his duties as public works minister to Finance Minister Eduard Guerra, while placing the finance ministry under the chief minister's supervision.[12] [13]

His government pursued a policy of promoting "moral governance", which Ebrahim says based on "moral values of Islam" as a response to corruption and failed governance in the former ARMM.[14] [15]

On February 8, 2022, Ebrahim ordered the ministers and their deputies of his cabinet to tender courtesy resignation while the director general of each ministry were directed to temporarily take over.[16] [17] This marked the end of Ebrahim's tenure as concurrent finance minister and was succeeded by Ubaida Pacasem who took their oath on March 14, 2022.[18]

Ebrahim retained his position as interim Chief Minister when President Bongbong Marcos appointed a new set of members for the BTA in August 2022.[19] [20]

Amid the now former President Duterte's call for the secession of Mindanao from the Philippines in January 2024, Ebrahim has release a statement expressing support for the sitting administration of President Marcos Jr. and declared himself committed to the peace process and setting the foundation of an autonomous Bangsamoro region.[21]

Personal life

Al Haj Murad Ebrahim is married to Hadja Lupia Ebrahim, with whom he has two children.[2]

On 14 March 2015, controversy on the citizenship of Murad arose when Philippine former interior secretary Rafael Alunan III accused him of being a citizen of Malaysia.[22] [23] This allegation was denied by Malaysia and fellow MILF member Mohagher Iqbal.[24] [25]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cochrane . Joe . The Road To Peace . 4 January 2014 . Newsweek . 5 September 2004.
  2. News: Sarmiento . Bong . Murad Ebrahim: From guerrilla commander to government official . 3 March 2019 . Philippine Daily Inquirer . 23 February 2019.
  3. News: Espejo. Edwin. Murad: From a hardliner to voice of moderation. 4 January 2014. Rappler. 14 October 2012.
  4. News: Murad Ebrahim, rebel who found path to peace. 4 January 2014. South China Morning Post. 21 October 2012.
  5. News: Nawal . Allan . Murad: Born fighter who rarely gets mad. 4 January 2014 . . 14 October 2012.
  6. News: Macaraig . Ayee . Fighter to Chief Minister: MILF chief Murad Ebrahim's new 'struggle' . 24 February 2019 . GMA News . Agence France-Presse . 24 February 2019.
  7. News: Chief Minister's Corner: Chief . 7 July 2020 . BARMM Official Website . Office of Chief Minister's Information & Communications Technology Office.
  8. News: Arguilas . Carolyn . Murad visits Marawi's Ground Zero; vows rehab will be priority in transition gov't . 23 December 2018 . MindaNews . 23 December 2018.
  9. News: Balinbin . Arjay . MILF's Murad Ebrahim appointed Chief Minister of Bangsamoro Transition Authority as members take their oaths . 7 July 2020 . BusinessWorld . 22 February 2019.
  10. Web site: MILF chair Murad is interim BARMM chief minister. 22 February 2019.
  11. News: Arguilas . Carolyn . Murad vows a government "free of all the ills of governance;" names 10 ministers . 27 February 2019 . MindaNews . 27 February 2019.
  12. News: Macabalang . Ali . Murad reshuffles BARMM Cabinet . 13 November 2019 . Manila Bulletin . 12 November 2019.
  13. News: Arguilas . Carolyn . BARMM Cabinet reshuffled: Ebrahim to serve as Finance Minister . 15 November 2019 . MindaNews . 13 November 2019.
  14. News: Alam . Sorvar . Ul Khaliq . Riyaz . Bangsamoro chief minister focuses on moral governance . 16 September 2021 . Anadolu Agency . 16 December 2019.
  15. News: Cabrera . Ferdinandh B. . Ebrahim wants 'moral governance' for Bangsamoro . 16 September 2021 . MindaNewss . 25 March 2019.
  16. News: Revamp in BARMM government underway . 13 February 2022 . The Philippine Star . 12 February 2022.
  17. News: Rita . Joviland . BARMM ministers, deputies were asked to tender courtesy resignation for revamp —Ebrahim . 24 February 2022 . GMA News . 23 February 2022 . en.
  18. News: Chief Minister holds 57th Cabinet Meeting; 3 new ministers take Oath of Moral Governance . 16 March 2022 . BARMM Official Website . Bangsamoro Information Office . 14 March 2022.
  19. News: Ebrahim retains lead post in reorganized BTA . 13 August 2022 . Manila Standard . 13 August 2022.
  20. News: Arguillas . Carolyn O. . Marcos to Bangsamoro Transition Authority: no more extension; election in 2025 . 13 August 2022 . MindaNews . 12 August 2022.
  21. News: Barmm leaders oppose separation of Mindanao . 3 February 2024 . SunStar . 2 February 2024 . en.
  22. Web site: Lawmaker wants Murad, Iqbal probed. Philippine News Agency. The Manila Times. 14 March 2015. 29 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160228153906/http://www.manilatimes.net/lawmaker-wants-murad-iqbal-probed/169434/. 28 February 2016. dead.
  23. Web site: Iqbal, Murad may be using different names in passports, says BI. Philippine Daily Inquirer. 20 March 2015. 28 February 2016.
  24. Web site: Malaysia: MILF's Murad, Iqbal not Malaysian citizens. Rappler. 17 March 2015. 28 February 2016.
  25. Web site: Iqbal releases copy of Philippine passport. Rappler. 16 March 2015. 28 February 2016.