Acting ARMM chief must have a plan—President Aquino

The incoming officer in charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) must have a time-bound plan for implementing reforms in the region.

President Aquino said as much after signing into law Republic Act No. 10153 which resets the ARMM elections from August to the second Monday of May 2013 simultaneously with the next national and local elections.

The President had asked Congress for the law, tagging it as one of his priority bills.

“Of course, his (OIC’s) vision should be the same as ours,” Mr. Aquino said about the qualifications of the ARMM officer in charge, one of several, that he will get to name.

OIC’s term
The OICs will take over when the terms of the incumbent elected governor, vice governor and assemblymen expire. They will sit until shortly after the May 2013 polls when the terms of the next elected officials will start.

“(It’s) someone who wouldn’t continue the system that people have been used to in the ARMM. If you think about it, this means you wouldn’t think of putting in built-in advantages (for your own interests). The focus would be on the delivery of basic services due to (the people),” Mr. Aquino told reporters.

The President shall appoint the OICs from a list submitted by a screening committee in consultation with the Senate President and the Speaker of the House.

The OICs shall review the ARMM Organic Act and make recommendations on its improvement within six months of their assumption to office.

Cleansing of voters’ list

In his speech during the signing rite that was attended by members of Congress, the President said the Department of Interior and Local Government will implement a roadmap of reforms for the region.

He said there would be a cleansing of the ARMM voter lists through another round of voter registration and modernization of the election process.

Mr. Aquino said the government would also encourage civil society groups to help with voter education and the protection of votes.

He said the DILG would make sure the laws in the ARMM are followed.

There would be no more cash advances for the procurement of equipment and supplies, and for services, he said.

The President outlined the need to address the corruption, the electoral fraud and the poverty that had long affected the ARMM.

“There are those who are asking, ‘why do the elections have to be postponed?’ There are those who complain that this isn’t consistent with democracy, that this keeps them from the freedom to choose their leaders,” Mr. Aquino said.

“The question I will return to them is, with the system that we found (in the region), is the ARMM really experiencing democracy?”

Haunted by 2007

The President said there is no democracy when voters are told whom to vote for, when students are forced to sit on ballot boxes to protect the votes from private armies, and when teachers have to embrace the ballot boxes while trembling in fear for their lives.

“Let us return to some of the things that happened in 2007. When the results of the elections in Mindanao were released, the outcome was 12-0. All of the senatorial bets of Mrs. (former President Gloria Macapagal-) Arroyo won,” Mr. Aquino said.

“How did this happen? In my mind I asked, was the fan club of the Arroyo team this big in the ARMM?”

The President said the ARMM was also one of the poorest regions in the country with a poverty incidence of 38.1 percent in 2009. He said Maguindanao had the most severe poverty incidence with 44.6 percent.

“It’s puzzling that the ARMM came to this situation despite the funds that were allocated annually to the region,” he said.