SC to BLGF: Name treasurer in Maguindanao del Norte

COTABATO CITY—The Supreme Court has ended the long wait of Maguindanao del Norte to have its own provincial treasurer by ordering the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) in Soccsksargen to designate one for the newly created province.

On April 19, the Supreme Court’s Second Division, chaired by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, issued a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction “mandatorily enjoining” the BLGF regional office “to process the designation of Badorie M. Alonzo or any qualified person designated by petitioner Province of Maguindanao del Norte as Provincial Treasurer” of the province.

The writ was issued in relation to a petition for mandamus filed on Feb. 20 by Maguindanao del Norte, represented by erstwhile Vice Gov. Fatima Ainee Sinsuat who assumed as acting governor of the new province.

The division of Maguindanao into two provinces—Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindao del Sur—was formalized in October last year after it was approved by local voters in a plebiscite in September that year. Subsequently, then governor Bai Mariam Mangudadatu assumed as governor of Maguindanao del Sur and Sinsuat as governor of Maguindanao del Norte.

However, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) refused to acknowledge Sinsuat as Maguindanao del Norte’s governor and instead endorsed one of its senior ministers, Abdulraof Macacua, for the post, who was subsequently sworn into office as acting governor by President Marcos on April 5.

‘Effective immediately’

But even before Macacua’s appointment as acting governor, Maguindanao del Norte, through Sinsuat, has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to compel the BARMM and the BLGF, which is an agency under the Department of Finance, to honor the designation of Alonzo as provincial treasurer. Under the Local Government Code, the finance secretary appoints the local treasurer and assistant local treasurer “from a list of at least three ranking eligible recommendees” of the local chief executive.

Although Maguindanao del Norte began to receive national tax allotment for 2023, the provincial government has not been able to disburse the funds as it has no treasurer. Apart from the governor, the treasurer is required as a signatory for fund disbursements.

The writ is “effective immediately and continuing until further orders,” the high court said. In filing the petition, Sinsuat noted that the BLGF’s refusal to act on the province’s request for designating a treasurer hampered the efficient and effective delivery of services to the people. The writ was issued by the Supreme Court “in the interest of expediency and without necessarily giving due course to the petition.”

Sinsuat’s petition included, among others, prayers for the high court to order respondents to recognize the corporate existence of Maguindanao del Norte and the assumption of office of its local elective officials.

Recognition

But the initial legal victory raised Sinsuat’s hope that she has a rightful claim to the gubernatorial seat of the province.

“I believe that the Supreme Court recognizes that my assumption into office as acting governor is legitimate,” she said in a statement posted on social media.

The writ, according to her, validates the corporate existence of Maguindanao del Norte hence its right to file a case.

“This will give clarity to the issues surrounding the governorship of the new province,” Sinsuat added.

In a statement on Tuesday, lawyer Valerie Añober, a counsel for Sinsuat, explained that the issuance of the writ “established that the petitioner has a clear legal and unmistakable right.”

But BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo downplays the impact of the Supreme Court order on the question of who is the legitimate governor of Maguindanao del Norte.

Sinarimbo clarified that the order pertains to the designation of a provincial treasurer and not on the question of who should be the province’s chief executive.

Amid the leadership intramural, the mayors in nine of 12 towns of the province issued a joint statement supporting Macacua’s appointment as governor. These are the chief executives of Barira, Buldon, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Matanog, Kabuntalan, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, North Upi and Sultan Mastura towns.

Macacua had also launched a contest for designing the logo or emblem of the new province that will depict the unity of its residents who are Muslims, Christians and indigenous peoples. INQ