MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is set to reveal this week the shortlist of candidates for officers in charge for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, chairperson of the national screening committee, said their deliberations were tedious as members have to carefully assess and consider the qualifications of each candidate.
"Our panel has already gone through all the applications and we shall be ready to release the names of those who made it to the short list," Robredo said.
For the positions of Regional Governor and Vice Governor, he said the committee went through the names of each of the 111 applicants/nominees and trimmed the list to 25 names.
From the 25 names, each member voted for six candidates for governor and four candidates for vice-governor, wherein all those receiving at least three votes were automatically included in the shortlist. Afterwards, the committee came up with a shortlist of seven to eight candidates.
From the total of 440 applications for the Regional Legislative Assembly positions, Robredo said committee members came up with a list of five to six candidates per RLA, depending on the number of voter-population and number of applicants/ nominees per province/district.
He said all candidates who received at least three votes were also automatically included in the shortlist, subject to the submission of lacking documentary requirements. Afterwards, the second round of deliberation resulted in a shortlist of 12 candidates per district.
“Initially, the proposal was to come up with only three names per position, but the members decided to expand the list to ensure that there was an equal representation per sector,” Robredo said.
He said the shortlist for each post will be ranked and separately endorsed to the House Speaker and Senate President, who will submit their respective recommendations for the approval and signature of President Aquino by Sept 20 this year.
Robredo said provincial and regional fora will be held in different areas in Mindanao this week to allow the candidates to present their legislative agenda for ARMM and obtain the commitment of the candidates and other stakeholders for reforms in the region.
Provincial fora shall be held simultaneously today for shortlisted RLA candidates in the following venues: Shariff Kabunsuan Complex in Cotabato City (for the 1st and 2nd district of Maguindanao candidates); Mindanao State University in Marawi City (for the 1st and 2nd district of Lanao del Sur); MSU, Jolo, Sulu (for Sulu 1st and 2nd district); Notre Dame of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi (for Tawi-tawi); and Basilan State College in Isabela City (for Basilan).
The regional public fora for shortlisted regional governor and vice governor candidates shall be held on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at the Shariff Kabunsuan Complex in Cotabato City and at the Western Mindanao University in Zamboanga City on Thursday, September 15.