ARMM execs want Hataman reelected as governor

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Local executives want Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) reelected for his readiness to step down once the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is approved and ratified via a plebiscite.

The BBL, still pending in Congress, is the enabling measure for the replacement of ARMM with a more empowered Bangsamoro entity under a peace pact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“No one from among ARMM governors, since the government-MILF peace process started in 1997, ever promised to turn over the regional government to the MILF if the peace process requires. Only Gov. Hataman had promised so,” said Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay of Lamitan City.

Leaders in Iranun-dominated towns in the first district of Maguindanao are convinced a transition from ARMM to a Bangsamoro entity could easily take place if regional officials are led by a governor who is ready to step down amid a three-year elective tenure.

“It would be difficult to unseat a regional governor who has a three-year elective tenure. We are sure we can keep Gov. Hataman’s promise on that regard,” a local official said in Filipino in heavy Iranun accent.

Furigay said political leaders in Lamitan City, which is the new provincial capital of Basilan, and officials in all of its 45 barangays want Hataman reelected.

ARMM officials, including regional governor, vice-governor and members of the 24-seat Regional Assembly, who will be elected in May 2016 will enjoy a three-year term that would last up to June 30, 2019.

“We’ll have a serious problem having a regional governor who is a warlord. Warlords are recalcitrant and stubborn. A warlord-governor will not favor any transition process and might even challenge the MILF to an election in 2019,” said a political leader in Sulu, who asked not to be identified.

The source said the ongoing government-MILF peace initiative is “safer” with Hataman at the helm of the regional government. He did not elaborate, however.

“If a warlord from my province, or from anywhere in the autonomous region becomes governor, there will surely be animosity between the ARMM government and the MILF because political warlords do not support the peace process. They are worried the creation of a Bangsamoro entity will boot them out of power,” said the source.

Hataman said last week President Benigno Aquino III had asked him to file his candidacy for ARMM governor this week, while efforts to have the draft BBL enacted into law are still underway.

“The president is so committed to the peace process and is working hard for the draft BBL’s enactment before yearend. He told me he wants me to run for ARMM governor while waiting for the approval of the BBL,” Hataman said Wednesday.

Hataman first assumed as Malacañang’s appointed caretaker for ARMM in December 2011. He was elected regional governor of the autonomous region on May 13, 2013.

Hataman and his regional public works secretary, engineer Don Mustapha Loong, are jointly implementing some P10 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Mayor Ibrahim Ibay of Parang town in Maguindanao said they want the projects completed as they wait for a positive outcome of the Malacañang-MILF peace initiative.

Ibay is the presiding chair of the Iranun Development Council, a socio-economic cooperation block of Iranun-dominated towns in the first district of Maguindanao.

Reelectionist Mayor Jasper Que of Bongao, the capital town of Tawi-Tawi, said he will extend political support to Hataman if he will aspire for another term as ARMM governor.

“I will support Gov. Hataman even if someone who is related to me by blood will challenge his re-election bid,” said Que, who will file his certificate of candidacy for a third term on Friday.

Hataman said he still has until Friday morning to decide on whether he would file a certificate of candidacy for governor of ARMM or not.