MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang has already prepared the draft administrative order that will pave the way for the selection process of the officers-in-charge (OIC) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), whose Aug. 8 elections have been postponed by Congress.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the draft administrative order where guidelines for the designation of OICs in the Mindanao region will be laid out is now awaiting the approval and signature of President Aquino.
Last month, the Aquino administration branded as “premature and speculative” talks about President Aquino’s choice to be the officer-in-charge of the ARMM, especially during the time that the bill postponing the polls had not yet been signed into law by Aquino.
“I think talk about any OIC is premature. At this point, any names that are being floated really are just speculations. There has been no decision, the process has not yet begun and any talk about individual appointments are premature,” Secretary Ricky Carandang said.
He denied a news report that former Anak Mindanao Rep. Mujiv Hataman was the personal choice of Aquino, as per the May 30 meeting of ARMM officials regarding the designation of OICs.
“It’s not true. We still have a process that has to be followed before the OICs are chosen in ARMM. It has not started yet and the law has not been signed yet. If it becomes a law, then the (nomination) process will have to start,” Carandang said earlier.
“Only then will we be able to determine who will be sitting as OICs. As what Secretary (for political affairs) Ronald Llamas said, there’s a process. Certainly, many names are being floated around, including Mujiv Hataman’s, but that is still premature,” he said.
Hataman, for his part, said he is “sincerely grateful for all statements of support,” but took exception to one news item in another newspaper which stated that Aquino endorsed him as the OIC for ARMM.
“To this day, we are not aware of any such endorsement. What the governors may be referring to in the story is the meeting they accordingly had with the President before the passage of the synchronization bill,” he said.
“If there was any endorsement made at that time, it must have been within the context of an election scenario. With the passage of the synchronization bill, we reiterate our position that selection for ARMM-OIC must go through a search and consultative process,” he said.