COTABATO CITY — Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali “Bruce” Matabalao has formally resigned from the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), withdrawing from the regional political party that backed his successful 2022 mayoral bid just three months before the September 14 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.
The UBJP is the political party of the former rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with the Philippine government in 2014.
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In a letter on Wednesday, and addressed to UBJP President Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, Matabalao said the decision was “never made lightly,” describing it as the product of prolonged prayer and reflection — including, he wrote, during his Hajj pilgrimage.
“Today, with a grateful heart, I am formally resigning as a member of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party,” the mayor wrote, adding that he prayed for “the courage to choose what I sincerely believe is best for the future of Cotabato City, the Bangsamoro, and the people we all serve.”
The letter was received by the UBJP’s Office of the Party President at its regional headquarters on the same date at 1:10 p.m. It was coursed through Dr. Zul-Qarneyn Abas, UBJP Executive Officer for Cotabato City.
Matabalao acknowledged the weight of his departure, writing: “How do you explain saying goodbye to a home that once opened its doors to you?”
He nonetheless struck a “conciliatory tone,” saying he left “carrying nothing but respect, gratitude, and prayers for UBJP.”
The mayor did not disclose his next political affiliation.
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It could not be immediately determined as of press time whether he intended to run under another party or as an independent in the upcoming Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.
UBJP, which was accredited by the Commission on Elections as a regional political party earlier this year, is fielding candidates across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for the September 14 polls — the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections since the region’s establishment in 2019.
UBJP has yet to issue a reaction as of this posting./coa
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