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COTABATO CITY — The Public Bonding Appeals Committee (PBAC) of the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) upheld the decision of the Regional Treasury Office No. 12 (BTr Region XII) and BTr Maguindanao denying the appeal of Bai Fatima Ainee Sinsuat to cancel the fidelity bond of Abduraof Macacua, which would have taken away from him authority over the finances of Maguindanao del Norte province.
In its order dated Sept. 19, the PBAC, headed by the National Treasurer of the Philippines, Rosalina V. De Leon, also sustained the decision of BTr Region XII and BTr Maguindanao denying Sinsuat’s application for her fidelity bond.
Both Macacua and Sinsuat are sitting as acting governor of Maguindanao del Norte.
Macacua was appointed by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr in April this year as acting governor, with Sinsuat as acting vice governor. Both took their oaths before the President on April in Malacanang Palace.
But in August this year, Sinsuat stepped down as acting vice governor and assumed as acting governor based on the Supreme Court second division ruling favoring her petition to designate Mr. Badorie Alonzo or any qualified person designated by the newly formed province, as provincial treasurer.
Sinsuat was acting governor then based on Republic Act 11550, the law that split the old Maguindanao, when she petitioned the SC for the designation of a provincial treasurer.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, speaking for Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), said: “In effect, this decision (by PBAC) honored the appointment of Gov. Macacua as the legitimate governor of MDN and allows him to continue to represent the province of MDN in its financial transactions with its depository bank.”
In a separate statement on Sunday, the Office of Macacua offered reconciliatory move to Sinsuat.
“In the absence of a Supreme Court clear order nullifying PBBM’s appointment of Abdulraof Macacua as governor of Maguindanao del Norte and because the President would not recall such appointment, Vice Governor/Acting Gov. Fatima Ainee Limbona-Sinsuat should settle down to her Presidential appointment as vice governor and join forces with Macacua for the best interest of the people of Maguindanao del Norte and the provincial government workers,” the statement said.
It added that “Sinsuat’s possible conciliation with Macacua has become imperative after the denial by the National Treasurer’s Office of her request for the cancellation of Macacua’s fidelity bond in the fiscal management of the province.”
The statement posted on its Facebook page, Macacua’s office statement added: “There is no substitute for observing “sabr” (patience) and sacrifice in Islamic principles when public interest requires it in a crisis such as the gubernatorial controversy.”
Sinsuat said in a statement issued Sunday that the legal battle continues as she claimed the PBAC decision was “expected.”
She said the BTr decision was based on the BARMM Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) claim that it is yet to receive the SC decision recognizing her as acting governor of MDN.
“The BTr decision never mentioned who is the legitimate governor of MDN since only the SC has the power to do so,” Sinsuat said.
Sinsuat also revealed that Maguindanao del Norte employees have not received salaries in the past two months since the province has no National Tax Allocation (NTA) due to the controversy.
She appealed to President Marcos to step in and resolve the Maguindanao governorship with finality even as she denied she had ill feelings towards Macacua.
“I have high respects for him, some sectors are putting more flame in the legal controversy, especially in social media,” she said in a statement.
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