Hataman to Cabinet: Shape up or ship out!

COTABATO CITY — Acting ARMM Governor Mujib Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) strongly warned Cabinet secretaries in the region that they must improve their performance or behavior or be shipped out from government service.
“The public expectation from us is very high after our accomplishments were recognized by President Aquino,” he told Cabinet officials after attending the president’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Manila.

In the SONA, Hataman was named by President Aquino as “certified ghost buster” after he cleansed the regional bureacracy from ghost teachers, ghost employees, ghost projects, ghost schools and all the “ghosts” that siphoned the ARMM coffers through the years.
The regional governor from Basilan was handpicked by President Aquino to institute reforms in the graft-ridden regional government.
He told the Cabinet officials and bureau heads that their offices should perform well even with limited budget.
“In ARMM nothing is impossible,” Hataman said, adding that he does not claim credit alone for the recognition cited by the President in his SONA.
“We still have more than a year, I hope we will get more recognition for doing our job correctly, I hope by next SONA, we have done what were expected of us,” Hataman said.

Habitat, DSWD join hands in ARMM low-cost housing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Margie MoranFloirendo, co-chair of Friends of Habitat, HFH Philippines’ social mobilization arm, right, with then Philippine senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Rick Hathaway, vice-president, Habitat for Humanity, Asia-Pacific, at the 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum, co-organized by Habitat for Humanity International, in Manila in 2009

Habitat for Humanity Philippines, represented by Board Member Ms. Margie Moran Floirendo and Hon. Hadja Bainon G. Kairon, OIC Regional Vice-Governor for ARMM and Concurrent Regional Secretary, signed a Memorandum of Agreement on July 27, 2012 for the building of 900 homes and 922 day care centers in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Also at the signing were Eusoph G. Kani, DSWD ARMM Legal Officer, David Liban Jr., Disaster Response Manager of HFHP and Leonilo Escalada, CEO for HFHP.
The signing followed the State of the Nation Address of President Benigno Aquino III on July 23 where he lauded the reforms implemented by ARMM OIC Governor Mujiv Hataman, especially on the housing and education reforms.
Leonilo Escalada, HFHP Chief Operating Officer said: “The home partner families living in Buluan, Mangudadatu and Pandag have experienced flooding through the years because of their housing location. We will be using stilt technology in the construction of the houses to prevent flooding in their homes.”
Site selection for the succeeding projects for housing and day care centers are still ongoing in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Marawi City, Basilan, Tawi tawi and Sulu, in partnership with the ARMM local governments and other regional offices.
Charlie Ayco, HFHP Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director said: “We, in Habitat walk hand in hand with National Government, DSWD and the ARMM government’s plan in alleviating housing poverty here in ARMM.
A total of 270 houses will be constructed in four sites in the abovementioned municipalities and are expected to be finished by the end of August 2012. Marilyn Roque

ARMM officials laud Aquino, Comelec for successful conduct of 10-day voters' re-registration

By Noel Y. Punzalan

---

COTABATO CITY, July 20 (PNA) -- A 10-day sacrifice is nothing compared to a lifelong label as “cheating capital” of the country come election time.
Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), who now have high praises for the Aquino government, may well agree to this following the successful conduct of the July 9-18 re-registration of voters in the two-city, five-province region.
The ARMM comprises the cities of Marawi and Lamitan and the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Lanao del Sur.
"The national government has done what is best for the ARMM electorates,” ARMM acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman said in a recent interview.
“Now, we are more confident of credible results to come out in the forthcoming polls following the re-registration activity,” Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu said as he lauded the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for a “job well done.”
Maguindanao Vice Gov. Dustin Mastura, meanwhile, said that the principle of “Isang tao, isang boto” once again reigns in the region.
“This is some thing good for the people of ARMM. We would not be alleged as election cheaters anymore,” he said.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, who visited Maguindanao during his last three days of monitoring the voters’ list-up, said his office managed to register 1.2 million voters in the region, a far cry from its old list of 1.7 million voting registrants.
“Despite some reported irregularities such as the 'hakot' (haul) system, a concerted effort among Comelec, police and military personnel managed to thwart what could have been another case of election cheating in the future,” Mayor Lester Sinsuat of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, said.
Lawyer Udtog Tago, provincial election supervisor for Maguindanao, said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) also played a vital role during the 10-day activity, as there was no reported registration-related incident involving the rebel group that has an ongoing peace overture with the government.
Since January this year, there were no reported encounters between military and MILF forces in Maguindanao.
“The MILF has responded positively to security coordination initiated by the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and ARMM police command,” Tago said.
Maguindanao First District Rep. Bai Sandra Sema, for her part, proposed that ARMM officials should draft a resolution expressing appreciation to the military, police and MILF for a well-coordinated security disposition during the registration activity.
She noted that members of the mainstream Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which inked a final peace accord with the government in 1996, also showed up at registration centers during the 10-day period.
The congresswoman’s husband, Cotabato City Vice Mayor Muslimin Sema, concurrently chairs the MNLF's biggest faction based in Central Mindanao.
The Catholic Church-backed Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) also extolled the government on the recent task but recommended that the Comelec make public the number of underage registrants that were removed from the list of applicants per province or barangay and also make public the number of registrants who were discovered to have registered more than once through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System per province or barangay.
“This is to disabuse public perception that underage registrants continue to pollute the new List of Voters in the ARMM; to assure the public that automating registration – the Voter Registration Machine that captures biometrics and the AFIS - indeed deletes flying voters,” Henrietta de Villa, PPCRV national chairperson, said in a communiqué to the Comelec.

Such action on their recommendation, she said, would help the public realize that the Comelec is a credible and competent manager of our elections; and restore the people’s trust in elections and impel participation in good governance. (PNA)

Comelec to assess the ongoing general registration‏ of ARMM voters

MANILA, July 13 (PNA) - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is scheduled to assess the ongoing registration of voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) next week.

Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco said that aside from evaluating the registration process, they may also talk about a possible extension of the registration, particularly in Lanao del Sur.
“We will tackle that in the en banc during our assessment on Monday, July 16,” he added.
Velasco said they will discuss the possibility of having an extension after recording delays in some areas, including the incident last Thursday, wherein the registrants in two barangays in Lanao del Sur were harassed by armed men.
The registration was temporarily suspended but was resumed a few hours later.
He also reported a shooting incident that took place at the municipal hall of Bayang, which wounded some people, also last Thursday.
“While there have been delays (in the registration) because of some unfortunate incidents, I cannot give an assurance yet as to whether there will be an extension or not because that’s the prerogative of the en banc,” Velasco said.

The 10-day registration of voters in the ARMM started on July 9 and will end on July 18. (PNA/Xinhua)

GUN BAN IN ARMM - In effect from July 1 to 23 for voters’ general list-up

The Philippine National Police–Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PNP-ARMM) will enforce a region-wide gun ban from July 1 to 23 in connection with the ARMM general voters' re-registration set on July 9-18. The measure is based on a memorandum issued by PNP Director-General Nicanor Bartolome last June 27.
In a statement sent to various media outlets here, the PNP-ARMM said the ban incorporates the suspension of permits to carry firearms outside residences.
“Only the members of the PNP, AFP and other law enforcement agencies who are performing official duties and in agency-prescribed uniforms will be allowed to carry firearms,” the order stated.
The gun ban will be implemented in the ARMM provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, including the cities of Cotabato and Isabela.
Cotabato, though not part of the ARMM, plays host as the provisional seat of the ARMM government.

Isabela City, for its part, also voted against its inclusion in the ARMM although it is situated in the heart of Basilan. (PNA)