Datumanong brod, 2 others vie for ARMM Speaker

COTABATO CITY — Three newly elected legislators of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), one of them a brother of Public Works and Highways Secretary Simeon Datumanong, are vying for the speakership of the 24-seat Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) in today’s voting.

A block of assemblymen from Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur are backing the bid for speakership, the region’s third highest post, of Assemblyman Ombra Datumanong (second district, Maguindanao), a brother of Secretary Datumanong.

The two other candidates are Ismael Abubakar of Tawi-Tawi, who is backed by another group of RLA members from Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi; and Tomi Ala (first district, Maguindanao), who is endorsed by ARMM legislators from Central Mindanao.

"Let us leave everything to the collective judgment of the members of the assembly," Abubakar told The STAR.

Each congressional district in the expanded ARMM — comprised of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Marawi City — is represented by three assemblymen, each entitled to a share of the region’s infrastructure subsidy from the national government for "district impact thrusts."

While the governor’s office is known in the ARMM as its "little Malacañang," the RLA is regarded as the region’s "little Congress."

The 24-seat RLA has a say in the allocation of locally generated funds for the various projects of all line agencies and support offices devolved to the regional government.

"If you become the Speaker, you become the third highest elected official in the ARMM and that means political power, influence, etc.," said incumbent Maguindanao Rep. Guimid Matalam, who was RLA Speaker from 1993 to 1996.

Matalam was elected vice governor of ARMM in 1996, but resigned from his post and ran for the congressional seat in the second district of Maguindanao in the May 2001 polls.

The RLA Speaker, apart from receiving a hefty monthly pay and other fringe benefits, also gets the biggest share in grants for district infrastructure projects.

During the term of former ARMM Gov. Lininding Pangandaman, each of the region’s assemblymen got at least P10 million yearly, from 1993 to 1996, for projects in their respective districts.

Deputy Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Nabil Tan, now functioning, on a "special arrangement," as ARMM’s executive secretary, said it is important for the Speaker of the fourth RLA and Gov. Parouk Hussin to have good working relations.

Tan, who hails from Sulu, was himself a member of the first RLA. He was vice governor of the region from 1993 to 1996.

"Because the executive and legislative branches of the ARMM are supposed to complement each other in working out the development of the region, there is no room for political animosity between these two entities," Tan said.