COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 18, 2012) – It has been 100 days since President Benigno Aquino appointed former Basilan Congressman Mujiv Hataman as acting governor in the Muslim autonomous region, but up to now it has no functioning Regional Legislative Assembly.
The RLA, the law-making body of the ARMM, is headed by a Speaker and composed of 24 members that represent the Mindanao provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Lanao ang Marawi City.
It was unknown why Aquino has failed to appoint RLA members, but there were reports that senior government officials – Interior Sec. Jesse Robredo, Yasmin Lao, the Presidential Assistant for Muslim Concerns; and Hataman, including some politicians lobbying for their own appointees could not agree on who to sit, in acting capacity, in the legislative branch.
Elections in ARMM would also be synchronized in next year’s mid-term polls.
With Hataman reporting his achievement during the first 100 days, the ARMM website – http://www.armm.gov.ph – enumerated his many accomplishments, including millions of pesos in savings from various agencies due to his reforms and anti-corruption campaign, but it also left more questions than answer after his own office failed to account – in the same report – the total amount it has saved.
But Hataman’s loyal followers defended the politician in social media sites where the issue was first raised.
However, many Muslims and Christians alike who are following how Hataman is running the ARMM, were impressed by the results of Aquino’s sincere reforms being implemented in the region, including the distribution of peace and development projects in the Muslim provinces and the support it gets from the public and political leaders there.
The numbers of so-called “ghost employees” in ARMM have drastically reduced after Hataman delisted thousands of fictitious names getting salaries and allowances from the regional government. But there are still persistent reports of unscrupulous education officials collecting money from those who are applying as teachers in Basilan and Sulu provinces.
One teacher said she phoned Hataman to inform him about the anomalies, but he did not answer his cell phone. “I also texted him about the problem here in Sulu and still did not get any reply from Governor Hataman. We want him to investigate all these problems of teachers in Sulu,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.
Many Muslim organizations and even ARMM employees have been following Hataman’s reforms and vowed to help him fight corruption by reporting anomalies to the government. (Mindanao Examiner)
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