Former Anak Mindanao party-list Representative Mujiv Hataman. https://www.congress.gov.ph/
ZAMBOANGA CITY—A former party-list representative who had faced charges for the assassination of a congressman has been appointed officer in charge of one of the country’s most impoverished, but highly resource-rich areas, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Mujiv Hataman, former representative of the party-list group Anak Mindanao, was named OIC of the five-province ARMM, product of a 1996 peace agreement between the government and Moro rebels that failed to put an end to the Moro quest for an independent state in Mindanao.
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said President Aquino had signed Hataman’s appointment papers about three days ago along with those of Bainon Karon, a prominent Moro female leader who would serve as Hataman’s deputy.
Robredo, in a text message to Inquirer, said Hataman and Karon would take their oaths of office either Thursday or Friday during formal the turnover ceremonies to be held in the ARMM complex in Cotabato City.
“There was no law violated with the appointments of the caretaker officials,” he said.
But Parouk Majirul, an aide of Basilan Gov. Jum Akbar, said the appointment of caretaker officials—particularly of Hataman—was improper.
He said the legality of the law that had reset the ARMM elections from Aug. 16 to May next year was still being questioned and the Supreme Court has not decided on it yet.
But Robredo said Malacañang knew that some people would not be happy about Hataman heading the five-province region.
“It was expected, but Hataman underwent and passed through many processes before he was appointed. He applied, was screened, presented to the public and interviewed (during the screening process),” Robredo said.
He said Hataman, an ally of President Aquino, was picked among the applicants for interim officials “because he can balance. He is accepted both by politicians and nongovernment organizations.”
He said Hataman’s first priority when he assumes office would be peace and security issues in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.
Hataman said among his priorities was to bring warring politicians and families to negotiations.
As far as he was concerned, he said he was trying to reach out to the Akbars, his main political rivals.
The Akbars had charged Hataman with involvement in the 2007 Batasan explosion that killed, among others, then Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar.
Hataman told Inquirer by phone that he will be assisted by a technical team, whose composition could be finalized this month, in running the affairs of the ARMM.
“We will maximize our time this December for transition, planning and workshop, focusing on good governance, peace and security and socioeconomic development and we will put more emphasis on reform programs for the ARMM,” he said.
Hataman, 39, is a member of the Yakan indigenous community in Basilan. He is the younger brother of Basilan Rep. Jim Salliman Hataman.
He was former volunteer of the Moro Human Rights Center. Before entering politics, Hataman was Wahab Akbar’s chief of staff when Akbar was Basilan governor.
Hataman eventually created Anak Mindanao, a party-list group he had represented in Congress from 2001.
Anak Mindanao did not win a seat during the 2010 general elections after it only got 161,418 votes or just 0.54 percent of that required by the law. Julie Alipala and Nash Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao