ARMM willing to subsidize 12 'IRA-less' towns

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  --- The executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is ready to provide P500,000 monthly support to the 12 ARMM towns that do not get Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the national government.

Most of the 12 towns are located in the province of Maguindanao and were created between 2007 and 2009 by the ARMM’s 24-seat Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA).

The 12 towns have been subsisting mainly on “cash assistance” from the Department of Budget and Management.

 Hataman said he will organize a forum with local officials from the 12 towns to discuss the facilitation of the subsidy from the ARMM's treasury.

“But I will have to make them promise that they will do everything to prevent absenteeism in their ranks. I’m not saying they are absentee officials. I just want to make sure that they will continue to strive hard for their local government units to function at all times,” he said.

A member of the RLA, Maguindanao Assemblyman Khadafeh Mangudadatu, said he welcome's Hataman’s gesture.

“That’s a big help for these 12 towns that are existing, operating without any IRA,” Mangudadatu said.

Mangudadatu was a proponent of an RLA resolution that called on the national government to grant monthly IRA to the towns.

The resolution, which the ARMM law-making body approved last month, also underscored the need for IRA for each of the 12 towns to ensure  that the LGUs  would deliver services to the local communities without delays.

Seven of the 12 towns --- Northern Kabuntalan, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Saidona Mustapha, Datu Hofer, Salibo, Mangudadatu, and Pandag ---are located in Maguindanao.

Mangudadatu said he and other members of the RLA are optimistic the national government will focus attention on their resolution asking for IRA for the 12 towns. - John Unson