Sinsuat named Shariff Kabunsuan OIC

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan installed yesterday a scion of the Maguindanaon royalty who has been active in politics for more than 30 years, as officer-in-charge of newly created Shariff Kabunsuan province.

Shariff Kabunsuan, the first province ever created by the 24-seat ARMM Regional Assembly, covers all of the 10 municipalities in the first district of Maguindanao.

Maguindanao Vice Gov. Datu Bimbo Sinsuat, who belongs to the Lakas-Christian, Muslim Democrats, took his oath of office as acting Shariff Kabunsuan governor here yesterday in the presence of Ampatuan and his father, Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan.

Sinsuat, who hails from vote-rich Datu Odin town, is automatically resigned as vice governor with his designation as caretaker of Shariff Kabunsuan.

The ARMM governor, under the ARMM charter, Republic Act 9054, can appoint OICs for various elective positions in the newly created province.

"I swear to do my best to develop Shariff Kabunsuan into a progressive and peaceful province," Sinsuat told The STAR.

Shariff Kabunsuan was named after an Arab-Malay preacher who traveled from Johore, now a region in Malaysia, to Central Mindanao in the 14th century to preach Islam.

Shariff Kabunsuan’s creation brought to six the number of provinces now covered by the ARMM; the five others are Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.