Agri exec in Mindanao clarifies report on ARMM nominations

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The regional director of the Department of Agrarian Reform in Southern Mindanao, Yusoph Mama, said Thursday he never sought to impugn the reputation of former Governor Zacaria Candao of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The former ARMM governor and I have high respect for each other, so I won’t be surprised if he is also being considered as OIC governor,” Mama told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

Mama made the clarification after a Philippine Daily Inquirer report posted on its news website, www.inquirer.net, last Tuesday implied that he was critical of Candao’s past record and was cautioning Malacañang about it.

Candao was convicted by the Sandiganbayan of graft and corruption in 2008, sentenced to 56 years in prison and was disqualified from public office. The case is on appeal with the Supreme Court.

Candao is  a close ally of Aquino’s uncle, Jose “Peping” Cojuangco and his wife, Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, whose bid for the post of ARMM vice governor was aborted when Congress passed a bill deferring the regional elections to 2013.

The proposed new law deferring the elections provides that the President appoint officers-in-charge for various ARMM elective positions until new elections are held in 2013.

The Inquirer story last Tuesday reported Mama as cautioning the Palace to be careful in going through the list of nominations for the various officers-in-charge.

In making the clarification on Thursday, Mama pointed out that he merely said, in reply to an Inquirer query, that Candao’s name was among the nominees submitted to the Palace and that he never cautioned Malacañang to be careful about its choices.

Mama said the report created an impression that he was against Candao’s appointment as OIC governor.

He said he had nothing against Candao and cited the fact that he previously worked with him in the ARMM.