ARMM sectors nix Malacañang ‘anointment’

COTABATO CITY — Mala—cañang’s move to "anoint" candidates in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Nov. 26 polls runs "counter to the essence of autonomy," religious and cultural communities in Central Mindanao said yesterday.

Presidential Assistant for Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales told Catholic station dxMS yesterday that President Arroyo may announce her chosen bets for ARMM governor and vice governor this week.

Muslim religious leaders, some of them based in Marawi City, now a component area of the ARMM, said it would be wise for President Arroyo to instead declare the region a "free zone" so qualified leaders can aspire for positions without fear of being overcome by her administration’s political machinery.

"What we want is for the President to consult the people first to determine who among the leaders in the ARMM is favored by the residents, not by Malacañang, to become the first governor of the expanded ARMM," said Hadji Talib Mandangan, an Islamic theologian.

A Catholic missionary here, who requested anonymity, said the government had a "costly experiment" when it installed ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari, who ran unopposed as an administration candidate in the Sept. 9, 1996 regional polls.

"And now Malacañang appears to be bent on ramming a log into our throats again. Why now treat this election also as an autonomous exercise of the people in the region?" the priest said.

Highly placed sources, among them national government officials, said they are certain that President Arroyo will pick her favored candidate for ARMM governor from the "Council of 15," the new central leadership of the Moro National Liberation Front.

Members of the council, among them Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, Marawi City Mayor Solitario Omar and Sulu Gov. Yusoph Jikiri, ousted Misuari as MNLF chairman last April due to loss of trust and confidence in his leadership.

But a peace advocate, Hadji Ahmad Bayam, former chief MNLF propagandist in Central Mindanao, said, "It is but sensible for President Arroyo to pick someone from the council."

Bayam said such a move is in line with government efforts to enhance the peace process in Mindanao and assimilate the MNLF into the mainstream.

The MNLF forged a peace accord with the government on Sept. 2, 1996. — John Unson