‘It’s up to Congress, judiciary to resolve jueteng controversy’

COTABATO CITY — For mayors in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the ruckus spawned by the jueteng scandal involving President Estrada is not a big issue and that it is up to the legislature and the judiciary to address the controversy.

Most of the ARMM’s 86 municipal mayors belong to the Lakas-NUCD, the party that also engineered the virtually unopposed election in 1996 of Gov. Nur Misuari, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front.

"What is important is that the President, like any ordinary citizen of the Republic, should be accorded due process in answering all the charges hurled against him," said Datu Michael Sinsuat, mayor of Upi, Maguindanao and president of the province’s 20-member mayors’ league.

Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan, also a Lakas-NUCD member, has warned of "third parties" that could divide the region’s political quarters in the wake of the controversy.

"This is the time for us to be united and continue working out the normalization of peace and order in our communities. We must not allow the situation to destabilize the political situation in our respective communities," Tan said.

Tiruray tribal leaders in Maguindanao said they believe that Congress is capable of handling the issue.

"It is very apparent now that there are sectors trying to wreck the solidarity of the Filipino people because of the issue. Let us allow the law to take its course," said Tiruray chieftain Rolando Paguilidan, a barangay official in North Upi.

Maranaw mayors in Lanao del Sur are virtually not affected by the controversy, too.

"It’s up for Congress to handle that. We have trust in our legislature," said a Maranaw mayor in the second district of Lanao del Sur.