ARMM teachers scammed!

COTABATO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 18, 2010) – State teachers in the southern Philippine province of Sulu have accused some education officials of corruption and urged government authorities to investigate allegations of grafts.

Two teachers alleged that officials were demanding between 60,000 to 100,000 pesos in exchange for appointment papers that would give an applicant a permanent teaching job in various schools in Sulu, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

They claimed that many had been victimized by the scam and that a few were given jobs, but did not receive their salaries for month now. Many of those who applied for the jobs did not pass the required government licensure examinations for teachers.

“It was terrible. We are struggling to work hard, but some people are taking advantage of us,” one teacher said. “Some people are collecting money in exchange of teaching jobs – sixty thousand pesos and up to one hundred pesos are being demanded by them.”

They urged the President Benigno Aquino and the Department of Education in the Muslim autonomous region and the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the scam. “We are willing to come out in the open so we can put a stop into these nefarious activities. We are appealing to President Aquino to order an investigation into our complaints,” another teacher said.

The same problem is also happening in Lanao del Sur province which is part of the Muslim autonomous region.

Lawyer Baratucal Caudang, Education Secretary, said his office would investigate the allegations and urged those who were victimized to come out and file charges. “We will not tolerate this kind of activities and we are urging those who are complaining to present their evidence. They should have the courage to come out and identify those who are engaged in these activities,” he said.

Caudang said he will not tolerate graft and corruption. “We have to serve as model. We will not tolerate this malpractice,” he added.

It was not the first time teachers complained about graft and corruption in the Department of Education in the Muslim autonomous region.

Graft and corruption was so widespread in the past that even salaries for teachers had been stolen and insurance premiums of state workers were not remitted to the central government. But despite these problems, no one had been charged or jailed for violations of the anti-graft law and other wrongdoings in the Muslim autonomous region. (Mindanao Examiner)

Gunmen seize 7 people in Muslim Maguindanao

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 24, 2010) – Gunmen seized at least 7 people in the Muslim province of Maguindanao in the restive region of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, officials said Friday.

Officials said the victims were in two passenger vehicles bound for Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province when gunmen seized them on a road block in the village called Bayanga Norte in Matanog town.

At least 15 gunmen were involved in the abduction, said Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a regional army spokesman. He said the abduction was believed to be in connection to the September 13 kidnapping of Aris Lidasan in Lanao del Sur’s Lumba Bayabao town.

“The motive of the abduction is believed to be in retaliation to the kidnapping of Lidasan,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Lidasan is still being held hostage by his captors.

It was unknown whether those abducted are family members of relatives of the kidnappers, Cabangbang said troops were sent to the province to track down the perpetrators and their hostages.

Last year, gunmen abducted and murdered at least 57 people, more than half of them were journalists accompanying a political caravan of town official in Maguindanao.

The governor of the Muslim autonomous region, Zaldy Ampatuan; his father, Andal Ampatuan Sr. and brother Andal Ampatuan Jr. and other relatives have been accused of masterminding the killings.

Ampatuan’s deputy governor Ansaruddin Adiong and a staunch ally now sits as the acting governor of the troubled Muslim autonomous region. (Mindanao Examiner)

ARMM DH for export, binatikos!

Isang babaeng Muslim ang abala sa pagkuha ng larawan bago ang simula ng kanilang pagdarasal sa Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 31, 2010) – Umani ng batikos mula sa mga konserbatibong Muslim ang anunsyo ng Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao na magpapadala ito ng mga kababaihan sa Malaysia bilang domestic helpers pagkatapos ng holy month of Ramadan.

Sa halip na trabaho ang ibigay sa mga Muslim ay iaangkat pa ang mga ito upang gawin katulong sa nasabing bansa. Ang ARMM ay kinabibilangan ng Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao at Lanao del Sur.

Ayon pa sa ARMM ay ang pagpapadala ng mga “household helpers” ay bahagi ng isang kasunduan sa mga Malaysian recruiters. Hindi pangkaraniwan sa mga Muslim ang magtrabaho bilang katulong dahil na rin sa values at kulturang kinasanayan ng mga ito.

Dapat umano ay job opportunities at livelihood training ang maibigay ng pamahalaan sa mga Muslim sa ARMM. Ngunit mismong ang ARMM pa ang nagtutulak na palabasin ng bansa ang mga Kababaihan nito upang manilbihan bilang katulong, sa halip na bigyan ng trabaho sa bansa.

"Trabaho ang dapat ibigay sa aming mga kababaihan at hindi ipadala sa ibang bansa bilang katulong, discriminated na nga kami sa Pilipinas eh ganito pa ang gagawin nila," ani ng isang Muslim na si Mukim Kalbi.

Ngunit iba naman sa lalawigan ng Sulu at edukasyon at kooperatiba naman ang panlaban ni Gobernor Sakur Tan upang mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan ang mga Muslim doon. Hindi naman ito pabor na ipadala sa abroad ang mga Muslim upang mag-trabaho bilang katulong.

Ilang mga paaralan at regular livelihood training naman ang isinasagawa ni Tan sa Sulu at kamakailan lamang ay ipinag-utos nito ang pagtatayo ng malaking unibersidad na magbibigay ng libreng edukasyon sa lahat sa kursong agriculture at fisheries, at maging si First Lady Nurunisah Tan ay nagpagawa rin ng isang paaralan na nagbibigay ng mga libreng kurso sa Arabic, bukod sa iba pang mga proyekto. (Mindanao Examiner)

ARMM to export Muslim housemaids to Malaysia

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 29, 2010) – The Philippines is to export Muslim house maids to work in Malaysia instead of providing them jobs back home with their dignity intact.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM announced that it would send “household workers” after the holy month of Ramadan as part of an agreement with Malaysian recruiters.

ARMM is comprised of the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao where Muslims value their dignity and way of life more than anything else.

It was unknown why the Muslim autonomous region government would send domestic helpers than provide them livelihood trainings or promote cooperatives in the impoverished region.

In Sulu, Governor Sakur Tan has publicly discouraged locals to work abroad and instead encourage the promotion of cooperatives in the province.

He also put up more schools and ordered the setting up of a university that would offer free education on agriculture and fisheries among other courses, and livelihood seminars and training are regularly held in Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Governor Wants Failed ARMM Abolished

Sulu Governor Dr Sakur Tan.

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 28, 2010) – An influential Philippine governor has urged President Benigno Aquino to abolish the five-province Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao for its failure to address widespread poverty among other problems since its creation more than two decades ago.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, (D Hum) in a letter sent to President Benigno Aquino, said the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also failed to bring developments to the impoverished provinces and fulfill the aspirations of its peoples.

“The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao continues to fail our people. Supposed to be an embodiment of our collective interest and aspiration, the ARMM Regional Government has ably presented itself as a classic example of a pathetic and useless tier in government. More than 3/5 of its budget is for personnel services – only to pay for its officials and employees. It failed to enhance agriculture, fisheries and trade. It is helpless in containing crimes and lawlessness. Education, health and social services continue to degenerate,” Tan wrote in a letter he sent to President Benigno Aquino III.

“His Excellency, Mr. President, the ARMM must double its efforts to move forward if only not to be left behind again and anew as the other regions surge forward. We cannot actively participate as equals in the dialogues of the various communities of Mindanao while our house is in shambles. We have to make the ARMM work,” he said.

The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao or ARMM was first created on August 1, 1989 through Republic Act No. 6734 otherwise known as the Organic Act in pursuance with a constitutional mandate to provide for an autonomous area in Muslim Mindanao.

A plebiscite was held in the provinces of Basilan, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Palawan, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur; and the cities of Cotabato, Dapitan, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa and Zamboanga to determined if residents would want to be part of the ARMM.

Of the areas where the plebiscites were held only Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Sulu, Tawi-Tawi voted favorably for inclusion in the new autonomous region. The ARMM was officially inaugurated on November 6, 1990 in Cotabato City, which was designated as its provisional capital.

In 2001, a new law was passed for the expansion of the Muslim autonomous region to include the areas which initially rejected inclusion and the provinces which were carved from them, however only Marawi and Basilan, with the exception of Isabela City opted to be integrated in the ARMM.

And now, former President Gloria Arroyo and now congresswoman of Pampanga province has filed House Bill No. 173 dividing the ARMM into two regions.

“His Excellency, Mr. President, it has almost been 35 years since the Tripoli Agreement and 15 years since the 1996 Final Peace Agreement. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has been there for the last 22 years. Peace, public order and development continue to elude us. Our people remain poor. Our communities continue to be distraught by lawless violence,” Tan said in his letter.

Tan said the proposal of Arroyo is again fomenting discord. He said Arroyo had failed during her administration to deliver the commitments of the 1996 peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front rebels and almost caused a civil war two years ago by the forging of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels.

“Such proposal may provide politicians extra window for positioning. However, it does not address the sustained crisis in governance which continues to afflict our people and region. It is high time that we take the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to the task. It is already opportune to put the house in order,” Tan said.

He said the Oversight Committee for ARMM and the Department of Interior and Local Government must actively supervise the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The ARMM has put forward bases, justifications and targets when it submitted its operational budget for congressional funding.

The same, Tan added, must be reviewed and assessed whether these have been met and attained. “The relevance and performance of the offices and functions devolved to the ARMM must be also reconsidered. While we require both local government units and national government agencies to be prudent in fiscal management, the ARMM must also illustrate how well programmed and spent were each centavo the central government has provided it.”

“Due to the widespread discontent amongst the constituents and local officials in the region, there is a clamor for the abolishment of ARMM and revert the region back into the mainstream national system. We support this clamor of the people while taking cognizance of the legalities that have to be hurdled to realize it,” Tan said.

But regional elections in the Muslim autonomous region are scheduled next year and Tan fears politicians will soon start to jockey and seek Aquino’s attention and endorsement.

The Regional Governor and Regional Vice Governor are elected directly like regular local executives. Regional ordinances are created by the Regional Assembly, composed of Assemblymen, also elected by direct vote. Regional elections are usually held one year after general elections depending on what legislation from the Philippine Congress. Regional officials have a fixed term of three years, which can be extended by an act of Congress.

Tan said it may prove more cost-efficient to forego the elections in 2011 and hold the regional elections synchronized with the national and local elections in 2013, if not 2016.

He also proposed the following: “In as much only those favored by Malacanang get to be elected Regional Governor and Vice Governor traditionally, the officials in ARMM should simply be appointed and be directly held accountable by the Central Government.”

“The officials who shall so be appointed as Regional Governor, Regional Vice Governor and members of the Regional Legislative Assembly must be bound with a concrete action program to rehabilitated and develop the autonomous regional government. The two to five years should prove more than sufficient for organizational and institutional rehabilitation and development. It also need not be emphasized that the very people who shall be designated regional governor, regional vice governor and members of the Regional Legislative Assembly be competent enough to perform the functions inherent in their respective office.”

“In as much as the ARMM is both a major expense item of the central government as well as the poorest and most challenged region in the country, it may also prove prudent that His Excellency, the President, appoint a Presidential Adviser or Presidential Assistant for the ARMM who shall coordinate the institutional rehabilitation of the Autonomous Regional Government as well as coordinate all initiatives and public sector investments in the autonomous region. Such Presidential Adviser or Presidential Assistant shall ensure that the entire autonomous region is working soundly and is producing results and that the general welfare of the people is promoted and enhanced.”

Copies of the August 20 letter were also sent to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, the Senate President; Representative Feliciano Belmonte, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo. (Mindanao Examiner)

Kidnappings-for-ransom, virtual cottage industry in Mindanao

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Abolition of ARMM sought

SULU, Philippines - Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan on Sunday renewed calls for the total abolition of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, saying its creation 20 years ago merely resulted in systematic failure and an additional layer in the bureaucracy and corruption in the country today.

Tan accused ARMM officials of allegedly making civil servants’ – the policemen, teachers, health and residents - life difficult. “The results speak for themselves,” Tan said, citing the inability of the ARMM to introduce program of development, health services and jobs creation in the region, even with the assumption of ARMM acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong as the new leader of the region.

Tan said Adiong have showed system duplication in running affairs of ARMM and failed to address basic social and economic issues, widespread corruption among the local bureaucracy.

He said: “Most of our programs and projects have to pass through the ARMM for implementation even if the funds came from the national government and is intended for our province.”

Worse, he said, the amount intended for Sulu province is being levied by some ARMM officials who are in-charge of the funds before releasing it to us.

Tan, however, admitted that abolishing the ARMM has to be done through a legal, constitutional process and in consultations with all the provinces and cities under the autonomous region.

“If it is a constitutional mandate and all the needed requirements will be met, I would gladly support the abolition of ARMM, as it has only become an added layer of bureaucracy which makes the life of our people difficult,” the Sulu chief executive said.

ARMM is composed of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan. Created in the 1990s, the ARMM brought self-rule to the Muslim minority instead of secession but allegedly failed dismally to uplift lives in the country’s most depressed region. (Nonoy Lacson)

Release of Sulu rehab fund sought from ARMM

SULU, Philippines - Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan on Sunday expressed dismay over the alleged delay in the release of the P10-million fund for the rehabilitation of an ice and cold storage facility in the capital town of Jolo which will benefit marginal fishermen.

Tan said the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao allegedly failed to release to the provincial government the fund for the immediate repair and rehabilitation of the ice and cold storage facility here despite being released already by the national government to the ARMM.

According to Tan, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture released the funding to the ARMM during the time of former Governor Zaldy Ampatuan.

As this developed, Tan urged ARMM acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong to direct the BFAR to release the funds for the project and not to show his alleged “fear” on the former administrator of ARMM.

“Governor Adiong should exercise his power and prerogative as ARMM governor this time and not to show fear on the official who is keeping custody of funds for the fishery projects in the provinces under the ARMM,” Tan said.

Tan said Adiong is allegedly hesitant to address some failures of a BFAR official in the implementation of some fisheries projects in the region.

Tan had earlier accused Adiong of duplicating the system of Ampatuan in running the government affairs of the ARMM, an accusation Adiong has already vehemently denied. (Nonoy Lacson)

Muslim senatorial bet wants ARMM abolished

MANILA, Philippines - Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) should be abolished because Mindanao is becoming a milking cow of many government officials, a Muslim senatorial bet Ibrahim Albani said on Friday.

Ibrahim said there are many officials, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, who use the region’s riches without its people benefiting from it.

“In ARMM, there is no full execution of law and Muslim people turn out to have the lesser power in their own place,” said Ibrahim.

Also, Ibrahim agreed with Sen. Aquilino Pimentel’s suggestions regarding early elections in the ARMM. Pimentel said that ARMM elections should be held at least 10 days before the national elections on May 10.

“Elections in some provinces in the ARMM have always been marred by violence that frustrates the people from emerging their will on the ballot,” said Pimentel. “And that is reason enough for the Commission on Elections to advance the election earlier than the national election.”

It is also a way for military men, nongovernmental organizations and other sectors from the government to be focused on giving the people there the security they need, said Pimentel.

Pimentel also cited some historical incidents that made the area violence-prone including the "Maguindanao massacre" that killed 57 people on November 23 last year, 2009 at the beginning of the electoral period. (Madelaine Miraflor)

ARMM fails anew to help develop poor provinces

SULU, Philippines – Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan expressed alarm Friday after sensing that new leaders running the affairs of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao allegedly resembles the shadow of management of the past administration led by detained ARMM Governo Zaldy Ampatuan.

Tan lamented that ARMM acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong is seemingly just “duplicating the management system and attitude” of detained Ampatuan in the distribution of infrastructure projects and funds for the delivery of basic services to the people of the region.

He said Adiong allegedly failed to assist Sulu and bring development and progress and alleviate poverty in the impoverished province.

“I am sad to inform you that Sulu failed to receive the needed assistance from ARMM led by Governor Adiong since he sat as acting governor of the ARMM,” Tan lamented.

Adding that “the way he (Adiong) handles things and manage the affairs of the region, is more of a duplication on how detained Governor Ampatuan takes care of it when he was still the governor of ARMM.”

He said his government had continued to beg the ARMM government for infrastructure projects and funds to finance the livelihood assistance program of Sulu aimed to uplift the living condition of the people in the province.

Tan accused Adiong of playing favoritism by pouring more funds to provinces in the region were his relatives are the top officials.

“How can our people in Sulu have a better living when the ARMM officials led by Adiong do not help us,” he asked.

He said funds for infrastructure development and livelihood programs coming from the national government coursed through the ARMM, aids from the international communities for development and livelihood including funds for development coming from the ARMM do not reach them.

President Arroyo has directed last year all her Cabinet secretaries to give special attention to the Sulu government in its program for development, peace and progress.

Aside from Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi also did not get any development projects from the new administration. Adiong also failed to visit the provinces since he assumed as acting governor and is always on travel. (Nonoy Lacson)

ARMM bids to replicate Subic Free Port’s feat

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is bidding to replicate in its infant free port facility the success and progress of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority following the recent visit of regional officials to the former American military naval base in Olongapo City in Luzon Island.

Acting Regional Governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong, leading a 20-man ARMM team, visited the SBMA last week to learn about its successful transformation into a special economic zone.

The ARMM delegation sought the assistance of the SBMA to provide insights on the premier free port’s operations as the Adiong administration set launched massive efforts to establish a replica in the village of Polloc in Maguindanao's Parang town.

“We are overwhelmed in terms of the organization and the development of the SBMA - from a former military base to what it is now,” said David Ali, executive director of the ARMM Official Development Assistance Office.

Ali added: “Before we came to SBMA, we had zero knowledge on how to establish our own free port. We made the visit to gather information on how to start the process, and yet we now have some knowledge on long-term operations.”

He said ARMM officials have agreed to make Subic the model for the Polloc port in terms of management and structure.

It may be recalled that Adiong declared on March 15 the development of the port of Polloc as a free port, and of the host village of Polloc as a special economic zone.

SBMA officials led by Chairman Feliciano Salonga and Administrator Armand Arreza welcomed and briefed the ARMM delegation on the administrative and technical requirements in the operation and management of a free port, and the establishment of a one-stop shop center, as well as marketing strategies.

“Of course, we’ve had our ups and downs in running the Subic Bay free port, but then again, we managed to bounce back each time and regain our momentum,” Arreza told the ARMM officials.

“And I’m glad that people continue to look up to Subic whenever they need to hear some success story,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ali expressed reservations on whether the ARMM team could adopt all that it learned in Subic where ”enormous development” has taken place since 1992.

“But we always keep in mind what Governor Adiong tells us — if we don’t start to move, we will not accomplish anything,” Ali said. “Fortunately for us, we don’t have to fumble in the dark, because we have Subic as our template.”

Ali said the ARMM free port project would basically focus on starting up economic activities in Polloc, and then marketing the area in both the national and the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asian Growth Area) levels.

The Adiong-led team was joined by Ali, ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo; Polloc Port Administrator Moharrim Mohammad; among others.

Mohammad said that after their visit, the members of the ARMM management and technical group will meet to plot activities for the project launch set tentatively on April 19.

Polloc is one of the 24 villages in Parang, a first-class municipality.

The area’s main access to trade is the Port of Polloc, which was built by the Korean firm Nam Kwang Construction, Ltd. in the 1970’s through a P150-million funding from the Asian Development Bank.

The port of Polloc was then described by the Philippine Ports Authority as the “most modern facility outside Metro Manila” because it was equipped with a main wharf, lighter docks, transit sheds, and wide back-up areas fit for medium industries and processing plants.

ARMM is among the country's top producers of fish and marine resources, particularly seaweed, which is used in manufacturing toothpaste, cosmetics and paints. It also has large mineral deposits, including copper and gold.

Before the ARMM delegation, several foreign groups have visited Subic to learn about its conversion process. These included groups from Panama, South Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and just recently, Brunei. (Ali G. Macabalang)

Norwegian peace team visits ARMM

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The present dispensation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao under Acting Regional Governor Ansarruddin Alonto-Adiong is fully supportive of peace efforts including the going negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

This was the message of Adiong read for him by ARMM Attorney-General Baratucal Caudang, who led regional officials in welcoming Saturday the visiting Norwegian delegation headed by Ambassador Vegar Brynildsen, Special Envoy and Norway’s Peace Process Facilitation.

Brynildsen was accompanied by Norwegian Ambassador to Philippines Knut Solem, Thomas Stageland, Assistant Director General, Ture N.L. Lundh, Senior Adviser, Aing Holm, Advisor and Lars Salvperg and a team from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Peace Porcess, including Dr. Grace Rebollos, a member of the government's peace panel; and Director Edsel Mijares, a legal adviser.

Caudang told the visitors that upon assuming office last December 14, 2009, Adiong pursued peace and development policies and programs focused on the five key priority areas: peace, public order and security; development administration and governance; economic programs; social services; and infrastructure development.

In his speech, Brynildsen, who came to Mindanao for the first time, said the road to peace is difficult, but it has great potentials for achievement through peaceful dialogues but they believe in dialogues. He said Mindanao people deserve peace.

For his part, Solem expressed appreciation over the reception of the MILF and government peace panels of the expressed desire of Norway to become part of the International Monitoring Team, which is assisting the peace process.

Before meeting with the ARMM officials, the Norwegian delegation met here with the officials of the MILF Central Committee and IMT members.

With Norway’s expected entry, the 60-man IMT will be composed now of five countries - Malaysia, Libya, Brunei, Japan, and Norway, which has been invited by the two parties to join the peace keepers.

The IMT is tasked to monitor the implementation of truce between government and MILF forces with the in view of paving the way for the conclusion of the talks in a final accord.

Malaysia heads the IMT as well as the security and civilian protection component, while Japan handles the socio-economic aspect.

Meanwhile, Solem vowed to closely assist the talks because according to him, “peace is a pre-conditioned to economic condition.” (Jo Henry and Ali Macabalang)

Task group holds final consultation on ARMM's gender code

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - A task group helping draft the Gender and Development Code of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao held its final lap of consultative meetings in Davao City in the southern Philippines.

The series of meetings with Muslim religious leaders is a prelude to the legislation of the code. The Technical Working Group of the Regional Sub-committee on Gender and Development gathered comments and suggestions from invited participants of the April 7-8 consultations on the draft of the GAD Code.

The consultation intended to comprise and conform to the official position of the Muslim religious leaders on the religious and contentious provisions of the ARMM GAD Code.

The ARMM’s GAD Code is envisioned to be the regional translation of the Republic Act 9710 known as the Magna Carta of Women that was recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Gloria Arroyo.

DILG-ARMM Assistant Secretary and GAD Code Technical Working Group chairperson Sharifa Pearlsia Dans said the adoption of the code could be “a regional landmark legislation that promotes and protects women’s rights in different areas and responds to gender issues and concerns affecting women and children in the region”.

Like the Magna Carta of Women, the GAD Code affirms the role of women in nation building and ensures the substantive equality of women and men, young and old.

It also promotes empowerment of women and pursues equal opportunities for women and men, boys and girls, ensures equal access to resources and to development results and outcomes in the region.

“Our advocacies are more on re-inventing initiatives, mechanism, public policy agenda suitable to our being a Muslim and to our region’s geographical configuration," said Tarhata Maglangit, the Commissioner of the ARMM Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women for Maguindanao province.

Maglangit expressed optimism that the consultation with the Muslim religious leaders can widen the wisdom of opportunities for women’s participation in advancing gender and development agenda.

The final draft of the ARMM GAD Code will be submitted to the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly for enactment into law.

The GAD Code will be sponsored by Maguindanao 1st District Assemblyman Abdulradzak Tomawis and Speaker Reggie Generale of the Lone district of Tawi-Tawi as co-sponsor.

Series of provincial consultations have been conducted by the RSCGAD-ARMM technical working group since last year last, gathering local government stakeholders and development partners to brainstorm on issues and concerns involved in the prospected legislation of the code.

The consultation was spearheaded by the RCBW and the RSCGAD in the autonomous region in partnership with the the Commission on Population-XII and the United Nations Population Fund.

ARMM to receive fresh Aussie education support

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 31, 2010) – Canberra is planning to provide a long-term support to the improvement of the quality and access to education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim in Mindanao through another round of assistance that builds on the successes of the eight-year Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao Project, Filipino officials said Wednesday.

Officials said the new Australian government program would be a 5 to 10 year support to basic education exclusively implemented in the ARMM, which is composed of the provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Taw-, Basilan, Lanao and Maguindanao, including Marawi City.

Efforts are now being undertaken to draw up the new project through a 12-month implementation support to BEAM-ARMM design with the involvement of several stakeholders. The new phase will include the implementation of a peace education framework specifically tailored to suit the needs of children in the region.

School and regional officials of the Department of Education in the ARMM have recently participated in a two-day workshop forum on peace education sponsored by the Australian Agency for International Development to help craft the said framework.

A handout given during the forum describes peace education as education that is geared toward a culture of peace, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines as “a growing body of shared values, attitudes, behaviors and ways of life based on: nonviolence, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms; understanding, tolerance and solidarity; sharing and free flow of communication; and full participation and empowerment of women.”

ARMM Education Secretary Hamid Aminodin Barra said peace education framework in the Muslim autonomous region should have Islamic teachings as its foundation.

Barra, who provided an input on Islamic framework on peace and respect for human dignity in the forum, averred that the Islamic context must always be considered in any project that will be undertaken in the ARMM.

He also allayed apprehensions that this could contribute to extremism as “Islam is a religion of moderation.”

The AusAID-BEAM project, which officially ended in November last year, helped improved the learning of school children in the field of English, Science and Mathematics, and increased accessed of those living in remote and depressed communities to education with its wide-ranging and innovative schemes.

ARMM, however, continues to lag behind other regions in terms of literacy and needs more help to change this trend.

The new AusAID support will focus on the particular education needs of ARMM with its unique culture and diverse populace taken into consideration. (Becky de Asis contributed to this report)

Comprehensive planning on plight of refugees needed — UN mission

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Comprehensively planned efforts are needed to address the nagging plight in refuge centers of conflict-affected villagers and end the cyclical evacuation in this oft-embattled province, according to a United Nations mission.

“We have yet to develop a good plan for the internally displaced persons in the region,” said Australian Counselor Neil McFarlane of a United Nations team, who visited evacuation centers here and in nearby Maguindanao towns on March 25.

McFarlane, head of a 12-member UN-Office of the Commission on Humanitarian Aid visiting mission, said that “so much has yet to be done” to restore to normal the life of thousands of evacuees housed in evacuation centers in this province and other troubled spots of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”

It was learned that the UN-OCHA delegation was tasked to conduct actual inspections of refuge centers and recommend interventions that would hasten the return of evacuees to their places of origin under better economic status.

McFarlane was accompanied by Geert Vansistjan of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Michael Curtis – head of Sector DG ECHO 01; French Permanent Mission Jean Paul Seytre; Suzanne Loughlin – New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Oystein Lyngroth – Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Emma Leonard – Ireland Irish Aid; Nance Kyloh – USAID; Gi Domingo – AusAID; and Nick Horne, Carmen Van Heese and Akiko Yoshida, all of OCHA.

The group visited three evacuation centers here where its partner agency, the World Food Program, distributed its last batch of rice loaded in 11 delivery trucks for distribution to some 11,752 evacuees who have recently returned home after their respective areas were cleared by government forces of Muslim rebels.

Each evacuee-family of five received five kilos of rice and a kilo of mongo seeds during the visit, WFP National Program Officer Michael Argonza said.

Over 33,000 individuals were displaced in at least 11 towns of Maguindanao, including this town, following the outbreak of conflict between military and Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces in August 2008.

The conflict stemmed from a Supreme Court decision junking an ancestral domain deal drafted by government and MILF peace negotiators to pave the way for the inclusion of some 700 villages in an expanded ARMM area to be called Bangsamoro Judicial Entity.

Records provided by the ARMM’s Department of Social Welfare and Development said that as of March 23, at least 16,131 individuals are still staying in various evacuation shelters in Maguindanao. (Ali Macabalang)

ARMM holds consultation on gender, development code and Magna Carta for Women

Lanao del Sur 1st District Assemblyman Ziahur Rahman Alonto Adiong (1st from Left) joins the group of young lady officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as panelists and resource speaker during the Conference on the Magna Carta of Women here in Cotabato City on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Also shown (from left to right) are lawyer Christina Hawtay Jovero, OIC, regional director of the Commission on Human Rights –Region 12 and ARMM; DTI-ARMM Regional Secretary lawyer Asnairah Batua; Philippine Commission on Women executive director Emmeline Versoza as the Resource Speaker; ARMM Bureau on Cultural Heritage Executive Director lawyer Bai Ashrafiah Aymee Biruar and Regional Legislative Assembly Gender and Development focal person lawyer Bai Ysrahayda Sinsuat.

Assemblyman Adiong delivered the message of the ARMM acting regional governor Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong on the conference. PCW Executive Director Emmeline Versoza explains to participants of the Conference on Magna Carta of Women the salient provisions of the Republic Act 9710 Tuesday in Cotabato City. The conference was one of the activities on the month-long celebration of the Women’s Month with the theme “Babae, Tagumpay Ka Ng Bayan” spearheaded by the Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women.

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Concerned sectors and stakeholders are pushing for the adoption of Gender and Development Code for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in a bid to empower resident-women and enable them to participate in local development undertakings.

The Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women (RCBW) and the Regional Sub-Committee on Gender and Development (RSCGAD) conducted their final consultation in Maguindanao on the draft GAD Code in the region and a conference on Magna Carta for Women here on March 22 and 23, respectively.

The activity was the last of the series of provincial consultations concerning the drafting of the GAD Code, gathering local government stakeholders and development partners to brainstorm on issues and concerns involved in the prospected legislation of the code.

The adoption of the code could be “a regional landmark legislation that promotes and protects women’s rights in different areas and responds to gender issues and concerns affecting women and children in the region”, said DILG-ARMM assistant secretary and GAD Code Technical Working Group chair Sharifa Pearlsia.Dans.

The “implementation of the ARMM GAD Code will give best chances to the rural men and women to enjoy various basic programs and services, create greater participation of women in socio-economic development and active representation in the local legislative bodies in the discussion of their needs and wants”, stressed RCBW-ARMM and RSCGAD Chairperson Jasmin Domado.

The ARMM GAD Code is envisioned to be the regional translation of the Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta for Women that was recently passed and signed into law by President Gloria Arroyo.

Like the Magna Carta for Women, the Code affirms the role of women in nation building and ensures the substantive equality of women and men, young and old.

Moreover, it also promotes empowerment of women and pursues equal opportunities for women and men, boys and girls, ensures equal access to resources and to development results and outcomes in the region.

In his message read by Lanao del Sur 1st District Assemblyman Ziahur Rahman Adiong during the conference on the Magna Carta for Women, ARMM acting regional governor Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong said that “the current developments that takes place before us with respect to women are truly inspiring”.

“Women of today have remarkably conquered many frontiers on modern enlightenment and empowerment. Indeed, enlightenment and empowerment are inseparable from each other as there could be no empowerment in the absence of enlightenment,” added Adiong.

Meanwhile, a final review and consultation with the Muslim Religious Leaders (MRLs) is scheduled sometime next month to comprise and conform to their official position on the contentious provisions of the ARMM GAD Code.

The final draft of the ARMM GAD Code will be submitted to the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly for enactment into law.

Maguindanao 1st District Assemblyman Abdulradzak Tomawis will sponsor the Code and Speaker Reggie Sahali-Generale as co-sponsor.

The GAD Code consultation was spearheaded by the Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women in line with the celebration of the National Women’s Month in coordination with the United Nations Population Fund, Commission on Population XII and Regional Planning and Development Office.

Kabunsuan’s displaced workers get benefits

Asmad Enok, serving the government for over 20 years (left), receives a check worth more than P600,000 representing the "monetized terminal leave" following his displacement from the abolition by the Supreme Court of the Shariff Kabunsuan provincial government at simple rites Monday, March 22, 2010 at the ARMM complex in Cotabato City. Shown handing the check is Maguindanao OIC-Governor Gani Biruar as former SK acting Governor Ibrahim Ibay Jr. (right), Maguindanao OIC-Vice Governor Nariman Ambolodto (second from left) and ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimb (center) look on. Enok is one of 167 personnel belonging to the first batch of check recipients from P40-million fund released earlier by the national government. (Photo by Ali Macabalang)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – After more than a year of waiting in anxiety, displaced workers of the defunct Shariff Kabunsuan province finally received their "monetized terminal leaves" under the fresh leadership of the Maguindanao provincial government.

OIC-Maguindanao Governor Gani Biruar personally distributed checks to 167 initial beneficiaries in formal ceremonies last Monday at the cultural center of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound here.

ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, representing acting Regional Governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong, in a brief speech, said the displaced personnel of the Supreme Court-abolished Shariff Kabunsuan provincial government “deserved prompt attention and every penny of their benefits.”

Sinarimbo’s remark drew resounding applauds from the beneficiaries, who admitted having suspected “something fishy” in the delayed release of their monetized terminal leaves accruing from their separation from service as a result of a Supreme Court order dissolving Shariff Kabunsuan in 2008.

Biruar said that upon his installation to office by Adiong as OIG-governor last February 24, he started receiving formation about the availability in bank of P40-million earmarked for the terminal leaves of the first batch of displaced Shariff Kabunsuan personnel.

“We got confirmation in our verifications from the Department of Budget and Management that the fund was indeed for the terminal leaves of the 167 displaced workers. So, on order of the acting ARMM governor, we promptly prepared the checks and distributed them today,” Biruar said.

Biruar expressed what he described as “immeasurable joy” over the release of the displaced personnel’s terminal pays, stressing that “justice is defined simply as giving Cesar what is due to Cesar.”

Monday’s recipients of checks belonged to the first batch of personnel of the defunct province whose application for terminal leaves were received and processed as early as early last year, it was learned.

The amounts in the checks ranged from the smallest one-year terminal leave of P7,000 to the biggest sum of P600,000 allotted to at least three displaced ranking personnel who have served the government for over 20 years, official records showed.

Biruar said there are more than 200 other displaced personnel of the defunct province who were still deciding either to apply for monetized terminal leaves or seek reemployment in the provincial government of Maguindanao.

Shariff Kabunsuan was created in 2006 out of Maguindanao province via legislation by the ARMM Regional Assembly. In 2008, however, the Supreme Court issued a ruling nullifying the process because of the assembly’s lack of power to create a Congressional district. The power belongs to Congress.

Over 400 of the personnel of the Maguindanao province, who joined the provincial government of Shariff Kabunsuan, have been displaced following the Supreme Court order. (Ali Macabalang)

ARMM to launch 4Ps; forms advisory committee

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao formed its regional advisory committee for the government's "Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program" or 4Ps to intensify efforts against poverty and improve the health, nutrition, education and economic condition of its populace.

The regional advisory committee is an inter-agency cooperation that aims to effectively implement the 4Ps and translate national policies into region-specific operational guidelines, according to acting Secretary Pombae Kader of the ARMM’s Department of Social Welfare and Development, according to the regional government's media statement.

It said the DSWD leads the regional advisory committee with the Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, the Regional Development Planning Office and the ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information as members.

The 4Ps, one of the major anti poverty programs of the government through the DSWD, is a five-year program of the President launched in 2008 amid the global economic meltdown.

It is a conditional cash transfer program originated in Latin America and Africa and was divided into three (3) sets.

Kader said the 4Ps program provides small cash grants to identified extremely poor families with the condition that the money will be spent for health and education of their children particularly from up to fourteen years of age.

Under the 4Ps, each family will receive monthly cash grants amounting to P1,400 for five years for health services and education of three children. Each child will have P300 education or a total of P900 for the three children while the P500 will be used for the family’s basic health service.

In his recent visit here, DSWD Undersecretary Luwalhati Pablo, 4Ps National Program Director, said that since the 4Ps is “not a standalone program,” other agencies should assist her department in promoting and building the program.

As of August 2009, the program increased its target number of beneficiaries from 700,000 to 1 million households in 2008, entailing the government to increase its budget from P5-billion to P10 billion.

In the ARMM, as of August 2009, the program then covered 15 municipalities, serving approximately 30,000 households that received roughly P58 million, Kader said in her report to Pablo.

Pablo said that the program is still extending its help to 57 more municipalities and approximately 70,000 households for another five years which will be funded by international donors including American Development Fund, World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, The United Nations Children's Fund and United Nations Population Fund. (Mark Navales and Becky de Asis contributed to this report.)

Japan enhances development interventions in Philippine Muslim region

Naguib Sinarimbo, ARMM executive secretary (second from left), and Michimasa Numata, JICA chief advisor on human capacity-building (3rd from left), signed the minutes of their 5th joint committee meeting in Davao City Thursday, as ARMM director for administrative services Lydia Udaundo-Mastura (left) and another JICA official look on. (Photo by Ali Macabalang)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Top officials of the Japan International Cooperation Agency have assured to enhance development initiatives in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, pursuing a barrage of foreign aids and interventions to help bring peace and growth in Southern Philippines.

Michimasa Numata and lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, joined respectively by JICA experts and ARMM officials, held here Thursday their 5th joint coordinating committee meeting aimed at jump-starting a three-year human capacity development project for the bureaucracy of the autonomous region.

The JICA human capacity building project has two main parts: The conduct of trainings by Japan-trained ARMM trainers for personnel involved in carrying out infrastructure development projects; and the drafting of implementing rules and regulations of the regional administrative code for the autonomous region.

ARMM director for public works department’s operation Guialoson Mamogkat and administrative management director Lydia Udaundo-Mastura were named point-persons for JICA-sponsored technical trainings, and administrative code drafting workshops, respectively.

On Friday, another group of ARMM bureaucrats also led by Sinarimbo held a separate meeting in Makati City with a JICA team involved in restructuring guidelines for environmental and social interventions that would be opened in the Philippines including the autonomous region this year.

Director Satoshi Sugimoto and Assistant Director Masahiko Egami of the JICA program on environmental and social concerns conducted a half-day lecture on the guidelines for relevant project proposals, for which they asked various participants including ARMM officials to be transparent and accountable.

Sugimoto said they have four categories for projects that may proposed under the environmental and social interventions, including constructions of facilities for energy-generation, roads, railways, airports/seaports, waste management, and the like.

Sinarimbo, incumbent ARMM regional secretary, expressed gratitude to the Japanese government through the JICA for its keenness in infusing different development initiatives in the areas of the regional autonomy, which has been lagging other administrative zones in the country.

“We are very much thankful for the enhanced development interventions of JICA in support of other foreign countries’ assistance in ARMM," he said.

Sinarimbo and Numata officially signed the minutes of the 5th JCC meeting here Thursday, signalling the JICA to jump-start the final phases of activities involved in human capacity development initiatives in the ARMM bureaucracy.

Other JICA expert officials present in the meeting here were JICA deputy head to Philippines Masafuni Nagaishi, Project formulation adviser Takashi Komori, Kasuhiro Okamoto, business support expert Ryujiro Sasao, training management expert Ryoji Higurashi, and adviser for ARMM Shinichi Kimura. (Ali Macabalang)

GAA "punitive" provision imperils ARMM operations

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 23, 2010) - The new officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are calling for an urgent veto of what they lamented as "grossly punitive" provision in this year's General Appropriations Act governing fund releases to the ARMM governance.

Unless saved by a Presidential veto this week, the ARMM operations are in peril of being paralyzed, officials led by acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong disclosed in vehemence.

"I humbly implore for an audience anytime this week to bring out personally our grave concern before said flaw becomes irreversible," Adiong stressed in his letter to the President Gloria Arroyo on Monday - five days before the mandate of GAA provisions take effect on February 27.

Adiong was referring to Special Provision No. 2 on the ARMM budget on Page 881 of GAA 2010, which states that "no subsequent release shall be made unless previous funds released to the ARMM were audited by a special audit team based in Manila and designated for the purpose."

The same provision slates that "any disbursement that not been liquidated, audited and/or disallowed by the special audit team shall be deducted from subsequent releases for the ARMM from this year's GAA."

The 24-member Regional Legislative Assembly of the ARMM and the five provincial governments under the Muslim autonomous region - Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur - have prepared separate manifestations protesting the GAA provision, which they described as an affront to the wisdom of installing the Adiong regime purportedly to reform the regional governance.

The Arroyo administration has detained and indicted ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan in connection with the November 23, 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 31 journalists, in Maguindanao province. It also ordered a special audit of the fund disbursements of the suspended leadership on suspicion of alleged graft.

"At a time when ARMM needs to rebuild its image from accusations of graft, inefficiency and violence, the budget restriction will severely affect our efforts to implement strategic regional infrastructures and basic social services that, aside from improving the lot of our people, would prove that ARMM remains as a relevant, functional and beneficial politico-administrative unit," a draft of an RLA resolution said.

The draft resolution said the RLA members are collectively opposed to such provision and earnestly appealing to President Arroyo to veto it.

This year's GAA earmarks P9.2-billion budget for ARMM. The amount covers some 70 percent share for personnel services, 25 percent maintenance and operating expense funds and P850-million capital outlay.

"The ARMM's 2010 budget constitutes less than 1% of the national budget, but the new regional leadership has vowed to utilize it to the optimum benefit of its constituents under the principles on transparent, consultative and moral governance," ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said.

The provincial governments of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are equally alarmed of the stringent budget provision because they stand to share P150-million each for vital infra projects while the regional government would share only P100-million for similar projects, records said.

Unless timely vetoed, the budgetary "law" would do a "collective punishment" against all the workforces and constituents of the regional governance, said Sinarimbo, who is a noted lawyer.

He said the budget provision is unwarranted because there is no certainty in the length of period the audit on the Ampatuan administration's expenditures would be completed.

"While all well-meaning people of ARMM support the comprehensive audit on past fund releases and the prosecution of officials culpable of misdemeanors, we should not be held hostage to its proceedings and outcome," he said.

Analyst Raymundo Pelaez berated as illogical the interpolation of the stiff provision into the GAA because while it "appeared serious to sanction people suspected of wrong doings, it squeezes the necks of new leaders the national government installed to institute reforms."

"In ARMM, more often than not, investigations or comprehensive fund audits are synonymous to infinity. Therefore, holding the new ARMM regime solely dependent on the result of the audit of fund disbursements they have nothing to do with, is a virtual act of sabotage," Pelaez said. (Ali Macabalang)