Philippine Gov't rebuilding ancient 'Chinese pier' in Tawi-tawi

By John Unson (philstar.com)




Hadji Emil Sadain, regional public works secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (left), leads regional officials in inspecting the on-going improvement of an old, historic Chinese trading pier in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi. John Unson

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — An old "Chinese pier" in Tawi-Tawi is being rebuilt by government to revive an ancient trading network connecting seafaring traders from island towns to the capital of the province.

The reconstruction of the historic Chinese pier in Bongao island, seat of the provincial government, is sourced from a P75 million development allocation from the 2013 and 2014 infrastructure budget of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The pier, originally built at the main seaside trading center in Bongao town, is a major entry point for products and people coming from island towns in Tawi-Tawi and from Sabah, Malaysia.

The ARMM's Department of Public Works and Highways is presently constructing a 400-meter long watercraft berthing spot at the Chinese pier, and a concrete bridge and road that would connect the facility to the Bongao seaport, where bigger cargo and passenger boats dock.

The DPWH-ARMM has earmarked P50 million for next year's improvement of the newer and larger Bongao seaport.

Hadji Emil Sadain, regional secretary of DPWH-ARMM, said the old Chinese pier is also known as the "circumferential docking area" in Bongao owing to its lengthy stretch that straddles through seaside trading sites.

The Chinese pier connects to the Ridjiki Boulevard in Bongao, which leads to the municipality’s bigger seaport in the west of the island town.

"This old Chinese pier was destroyed by strong waves in the 1970s. The ARMM government is fixing it now to accelerate the economic growth of Tawi-Tawi," Sadain said.

He added that the DPHW-ARMM is grateful to Tawi-Tawi Gov. Nurbert Sahali and his sister, Rep. Ruby Sahali, for their support of efforts to improve the Chinese pier.

Sadain, accompanied by Assistant Secretary Numeiry Jalani of the ARMM's services convergence office for the Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi (Basulta) area, inspected the project site last Thursday.

Sadain said he is satisfied with how the project is being implemented. He said he will report his findings on Monday to ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

Hataman, to ensure transparency, even enlisted the help of various non-government organizations and different media outfits in the monitoring of the project, Sadain said.

Bongao Mayor Jasper Que, whose office is helping oversee the project, said his constituent-merchants in Bongao are anticipating dramatic improvements in the local economy once the Chinese pier’s improvement is complete.

The business communities in Bongao, known as the country's "southern backdoor," and those in surrounding island municipalities, have robust, centuries-old trade links with merchants in Sabah, Malaysia and in Indonesia.



http://www.philstar.com/news-feature/2014/07/26/1350610/govt-rebuilding-ancient-chinese-pier-tawi-tawi

ARMM Reactivates Role in BIMP-EAGA

ARMM joins Sabah expo
Manila Bulletin
Wed, Mar 16, 2011 6:35 PM PHT

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governance has reactivated its role in the Brunei/Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines-East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) activities after more than a decade of lull, with its participation in the four-day trade exhibit of member-nations at the Sabah Trade Center in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

ARMM products and vast economic potentials were showcased in the BIMP-EAGA Expo 2011, which began March 13 and drew potential buyers and investors not only from the four-member economic cooperation group but other neighboring countries.

''The autonomous region's main agricultural products such as banana, pineapple, coconut derivatives, and seaweed, as well as wood and textile handicrafts were displayed in the well-decorated ARMM booth,'' ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said.

Sinarimbo, who led the 10-member ARMM delegation, said it was the first time ARMM has participated in an international trade expo.

''Buoyed up by our achievements last year within the region, it's now high time we move out into the international arena so that our economic prospects would be strengthened,'' he said.

Sinarimbo added that ARMM's economy has to be integrated into the BIMP-EAGA because ''for both cultural and practical reasons, we cannot afford to neglect the opportunities for trade and tourism that Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia have to offer.''

BIMP-EAGA has a combined population of 550 million, and a gross domestic product (GDP) that is third largest in Asia.

ARMM revives barter trading with Malaysia

ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Jan. 10 (PIA) -- The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will officially start this month its barter enterprise with Malaysia as a result of the successful trading arrangement inked last week with the Sandakan-based group of entrepreneurs.

Rosslani Alonto-Sinarambo, executive director of the ARMM Economic Zone Authority, said a memorandum of understanding has already been signed between ARMM and Malaysia.

“Expectedly, any day now our maiden voyage with Malaysia via the Sandakan Port would start,” Alonto-Sinarimbo said.

Speaking to reporters, she said that the regional government has already contracted a cargo vessel that would bring in Malaysian preferred agricultural products.

ARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the city of Marawi.

Even before the ARMM was established 21 years ago, barter trading between Mindanao and Malaysia had been in existence, according to lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, ARMM executive secretary.

He said the revival of the centuries-old barter trading with Asian neighbors particularly Malaysia, would signal the reopening of the Polloc port in Parang, Maguindanao.

The port, the gateway to the ARMM, has been officially declared by Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong as a “free port.”

Sinarimbo said Gov. Adiong has ordered provincial officials in the region to explore what the inland provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur could offer for barter.

Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, known producers of sea foods could offer these high value products to Malaysia and neighboring countries.

Both officials could not specifically say, as of yet, what Malaysian products will come to ARMM as a result of barter trading. (DZT/PIA9-BST/rvc)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=10784

Arroyo seeks creation of two autonomous Moro regions

By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:59:00 09/14/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants to divide the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao into two autonomous territories, saying this was the key to solving the decades-old conflict in the South.

Arroyo, along with her son, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Macapagal-Arroyo, has filed House Bill 173 creating two Muslim Mindanao autonomous regions.

In her explanatory note, the former President said that the political subdivision was needed to address “geographical constraints that pose an immense challenge in governing the ARMM.”

The ARMM is composed of the provinces of Southwestern Mindanao—Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-tawi—and the Central Mindanao provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, and Marawi City.

Arroyo said the Central Mindanao provinces are landlocked by areas inhabited by “other indigenous and ethnic groups,” referring to the lumad.

She is thus proposing the creation of two autonomous Muslim regions—the Autonomous Region in Southwestern Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Central Mindanao.

She said the bill takes into consideration the issue of contiguity as an integral part of governance in the ARMM.

HB 173 seeks to amend Republic Act No. 6734, or An Act Providing for an Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, as amended by RA 9054, the Organic Act for the ARMM.

Click to read more...

Solons appeal for recognition of ARMM Muslim residents

By NONOY E. LACSON

Manila Bulletin

September 5, 2010, 3:05pm

JOLO, Sulu – At least six Muslim lawmakers have appealed to the Aquino government to give due recognition and position in government service to qualified Muslim residents of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as granted and stipulated in some of the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9054 or the ARMM Organic Act.

The assertion of Rep. Habib Tupay T. Loong (1st District, Sulu), chairman of the House Committee on Muslim Affairs, along with committee members Reps. Jim Saliman-Hataman of Basilan, Raden Sakaluran of Sultan Kudarat, Nur Jaafar of Tawi-Tawi, Nur Ana Sahidulla (2nd District, Sulu), and Bai Sandra Sema of Maguindanao, was coursed through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa during a recent meeting at Malacañang in Manila.

Loong said Ochoa cordially responded positively in principle to give due course to their appeal and their sentiments as he vowed to brief President Aquino on their assertions under RA 9054.

The Mindanao solons said the national government might have overlooked some provisions of RA 9054 that grant qualified Muslim residents of ARMM the opportunity to occupy senior positions in government service.

“We do respect the prerogatives of our President on his appointed Cabinet officials, who are of remarkable record,” they said.

“But Articles 4, 5, and 8 of RA 9054 also granted us the courtesy through the regional governor to recommend to the national government at least 10 Ambassadorial positions to Muslim countries, one national Department Secretary position from among us Muslim Filipinos, besides the Secretary post under the newly created National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, one Board of Director in all government-owned and controlled corporations, one Undersecretary or Assistant Secretary appointed to every National Department, and one Justice in the Supreme Court,” Loong pointed out.

Loong further said that “in our meeting in Malacañang, we also asserted the flight of the Muslim Filipinos to participate in national governance based on Republic Act 9054.”

We reminded our present administration on the provisions of the Organic Act that give Muslim Filipinos the right to be represented in the central government, he said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/275675/solons-appeal-recognition-armm-muslim-residents

Sulu gov wants ‘failed’ ARMM abolished

GMA News
08/28/2010 | 08:35 PM

Reelected Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan has asked the Philippine government to consider abolishing the five-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), saying it has failed to address problems like poverty and crime in the widely-dispersed territory.

In a letter to President Benigno Aquino III dated August 20, Tan said he supports the “clamor" among his constituents and other local officials to abolish the two-decades old ARMM and “revert the region back to the mainstream national system."

“The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has been there for the last 22 years. Peace, public order and development continue to elude us. Our people remain poor. Our communities continue to be distraught by lawless violence," the Sulu governor said in the letter.

He likewise described the autonomous region in the predominantly Muslim provinces of southern Philippines as “a classic example of a pathetic and useless tier in government."

The ARMM was created in 1989 though Republic Act 6734, which was passed in accordance with Article X, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution which provides for the creation of an autonomous region in Mindanao.

Five provinces — Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan—were included in the region after a plebiscite among its resident conducted upon passage of the law.

Proposals

In the same letter, Tan however recognized that “legalities have to hurdled" before the region is dissolved, so he proposed several steps that could be taken by the government “to make ARMM work."

The Sulu governor said the Philippine government should consider foregoing the ARMM elections scheduled for next year and instead just appoint the heads of the autonomous region.

“Inasmuch as only those favored by Malacañang get to be elected regional governor and vice-governor traditionally, the officials in ARMM should simply be appointed and directly held accountable by the central government," he said.

Tan also urged the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to review the “relevance and performance of the offices and functions devolved to the ARMM."

“While we require both local government units and national government agencies to be prudent in fiscal management, the ARMM must also illustrate how well-programmed and spent were each centavo the central government has provided it," he said.

No to further division

Tan likewise opposed further moves to divide the ARMM, such as the one proposed in a bill filed by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the Lower House.

The Sulu governor said Arroyo’s proposal will only further “foment discord" in the region.

“Such proposal may provide politicians extra window for positioning. However, it does not address the sustained crisis in governance which continues to afflict our people and region," he said.

Rep. Arroyo filed in July House Bill 173, which seeks to split ARMM into two regions—the western islands of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the two provinces in mainland Mindanao, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

Copies of the letter were also sent to House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, according to Tan.

Tan, who has survived at least one assassination attempt last year and a recent bombing incident at Zamboanga airport, is Mrs. Arroyo’s party-mate in the previously dominant Lakas-Kampi-CMD party. (See: Zambo blast not the handiwork of terrorists — military)—Al Jacinto/ACC/JV, GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/199680/sulu-gov-wants-failed-armm-abolished

Mindanao fishing firms confused

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Fishing companies in Western Mindanao have complained against noncompliance by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM) Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) with their 2007 agreement that they will get permits and pay fees only to the national government to avoid duplication of registration and doubling of costs.

The reaction was made following the letters sent by BFAR-ARMM to member firms of the Southern Philippine Deep Sea Fishing Association (Sophil) that they have to secure permits from and pay fees to the BFAR-ARMM office or face sanctions. "It’s an overlapping policy," Sophil President Eugene C. Yap said. "We had already solved this problem... but the BFAR-ARMM no longer honors the agreement."

Alano A. Alihuddin, BFAR-ARMM area supervisor for Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, said his office merely reminded commercial fishers that they still need permits to operate in ARMM’s administrative waters that stretch 22.5 kilometers beyond the 12-km municipal waters of individual provinces.

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=15739

ARMM teachers owed P124 M in unpaid salaries

By Nash Maulana
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 15:47:00 07/23/2010


MARAWI CITY, Philippines – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) owes its teachers millions of pesos in unpaid salaries and the amount continues to balloon, officials admitted Friday.

Bert Caudang, ARMM education secretary, said that to date, the regional government owed P124 million in back wages close to 26,000 teachers in Basilan, Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-tawi, Lanao de Sur and the cities of Marawi and Isabela.

The delay in the release of the salaries has forced many teachers to run to private money lenders, said Hadji Udtog Kawit, Maguindanao district schools supervisor.

But Kawit claimed that the delays – starting in 2006 – were inadvertent.

Caudang said one reason for the delays was the ARMM DepEd’s re-examination of its roster of teachers using the computerized individual data (CID) system amid reports of ghost teachers and non-existent schools.

In 2008, ARMM officials exposed a large number of “ghost employees” working in non-existent schools.

He said the installation of the CID system was still being completed and unless the figures were validated, the delays could continue.

Caudang said any payment would have to depend on electronic validation because pending completion of the CID system, the DepEd could not officially rid its list of probable ghost employees and schools.

He said that while ARMM officials expressed willingness to pay the mentors, there was not enough money to do so.

The unpaid salaries, Caudang said, would have to be charged to a supplementary budget “programmed for that specific purpose.”

Najib Sinarimbo, ARMM executive secretary, said there was a perennial problem of lack of funds in the region.

He said officials agreed that the only way to address the problem was for the ARMM to become self-sufficient by generating local revenues.

To become self-sufficient, Sinarimbo said “the ARMM has to assume collection of customs tariffs” as well as duties on exports done through its ports.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100723-282708/ARMM-teachers-owed-P124-M-in-unpaid-salaries

----
ARMM mentors get back pays

ARMM lawmaker protests pilot-testing of sex education

By Charlie Señase
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 15:05:00 06/20/2010

Filed Under: Health, Education

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – A member of the legislative assembly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) rejected a proposal of the Department of Education to use ARMM province as a pilot area for its sex education module in elementary and secondary schools.

Assemblyman Ziaurrahman Adiong said the planned inclusion of ARMM by DepEd in the United Nations Population Fund project that would initially tap the services of 159 public schools (80 in the elementary and high school, 79), only showed “Imperial Manila’s unilateral imposition of the UNFPA without regard to the sensitivity of the Muslim culture and practices.”

Adiong said his other Muslim colleagues in the Assembly have been contemplating filing a resolution to exclude ARMM provinces from the new sex curriculum which would be compulsory for Grades V and VI and high school students in public schools.

“There should have been public consultation first before launching the sex education project, especially conservative areas where inhabitants are so sensitive to matters concerning population control,” said Adiong, a native of Lanao del Sur that happens to be DepEd’s pilot-testing area on sex education.

The other affected ARMM provinces are Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi while the rest of the pilot areas include Sultan Kudarat in Central Mindanao; Olongapo City, Mountain Province, Ifugao and Masbate in Luzon; Bohol and Eastern Samar in the Visayas.

The Regional Legislative Assembly’s initial opposition to the sex-education, according to Adiong, borders on the absence of teaching modules, which when introduced might touch Muslims’ culture and religious practices.

“Proponents of the sex-education program should be rational and considerate to the Islamic conservative look at sex being introduced among the young,” said Adiong, whose brother Ansarrudin, acting ARMM governor, appears mum on the issue.

Education officials have assured that the program would not be coercive as it tries to introduce lessons on reproductive health, personal hygiene, proper peer behavior and unwanted pregnancy.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100620-276619/ARMM-lawmaker-protests-pilot-testing-of-sex-education

Sulu Governor Renewed Call for "Total Abolition of ARMM"

Abolition of ARMM sought
By NONOY E. LACSON
May 2, 2010, 2:29pm

JOLO, Sulu – Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan Sunday renewed his call for the “total abolition” of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), saying its creation 20 years ago merely resulted in “systematic failure and an additional layer in the bureaucracy and corruption” in the country today.

Tan accused ARMM officials of allegedly making civil servants’ life difficult – the policemen, teachers, health and the residents.
“The results speak for themselves,” Tan said, citing the ARMM inability to introduce program of development, health services and jobs creation in the region, even with the assumption of ARMM acting Gov. Ansaruddin Adiong as the new leader of the region.

Tan said Adiong have showed system duplication in running affairs of ARMM and has failed to address basic social and economic issues, widespread corruption among the local bureaucracy.

He said “most of our programs and projects has to pass through the ARMM for implementation even if the funds came from the national government and is intended for our province.”

Worse, he lamented, the amount intended for our province is being levied by some ARMM officials who are in-charge of the funds before releasing it to us.

Tan, however, admitted that abolishing the ARMM has to be done through a legal, constitutional process and in consultations with all the provinces and cities under the ARMM.

“If it is a constitutional mandate and all the needed requirements will be met, I would gladly support the abolition of ARMM, as it has only become an added layer of bureaucracy which makes the life of our people difficult,” the Sulu chief executive said.

ARMM is composed of the provincesof Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan. Created in the 1990s, the ARMM brought self-rule to the Muslim minority instead of secession but allegedly failed dismally to uplift lives in the country’s most depressed region.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/255639/abolition-armm-sought

Local poll watchdog accredited as Comelec citizens’ arm for ARMM

KIDAPAWAN CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has granted the petition filed by a regional election watchdog for its accreditation as citizens’ arm during the synchronized automated national and local elections on May 10 in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The en banc Comelec resolution and the accompanying certification granted accreditation to the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms (Citizens CARE).

The Citizens CARE, which was organized in 2005, will be the Comelec’s citizens’ arm in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, and in the cities of Marawi, Lamitan, Isabela, and Cotabato, under Special Proceeding Petition (SPP) Case Number 10-001. It would be under Comelec’s direct control and comply with all lawful orders.

The Comelec recognized the poll watchdog group’s active participation as its citizens’ arm during the August 5, 2005 ARMM elections; May 14, 2007 national and local elections; October 29, 2007 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections; and August 11, 2008 ARMM elections.

The Comelec also said the group has sufficiently proved its compliance with the requirements for accreditation as prescribed under Rule 33 of the Comelec Rules of Procedure.

The Citizens’ CARE assured the Comelec it is not supporting any candidate or political formation in areas where it operates, will remain non-partisan throughout the election period, and will police its own ranks for any violation of its non-partisan character.

Norodin Manalao, project director of the Strengthening Electoral Process through Voters’ Education and Election Monitoring (SEEPVEEM) Phase 3 of the Citizens CARE, said the poll watchdog group is engaged in voters’ education and Election Day monitoring in pursuit of honest, clean, and fair elections in the ARMM. He added that the group has more than 6,000 poll volunteers.

The Comelec resolution was signed on April 21 by Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle, Armando Velasco, Elias Yusoph, and Gregorio Larrazabal, and the certification issued on the same day by Comelec Chairman Jose Melo.–Malu Cadelina Manar/JV, GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/189306/local-poll-watchdog-accredited-as-comelec-citizens-arm-for-armm

ARMM Government Continues to Neglect Sulu

Official laments on ARMM’s neglect to help develop Sulu

By NONOY E. LACSON
April 16, 2010, 3:29pm

Sulu – Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan Friday expressed alarm after sensing that new leaders running the affairs of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) allegedly resembles the shadow of management of the past administration led by detained ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan.

Tan lamented that ARMM acting Gov. Ansaruddin Adiong is seemingly just “duplicating the management system and attitude” of detained Ampatuan in the distribution of infrastructure projects and funds for the delivery of basic services to the people of the region.

He said Adiong has allegedly failed to assist him to bring forward Sulu to development and progress and to alleviate poverty in the province.

“I am sad to inform you that Sulu failed to receive the needed assistance from ARMM led by Governor Adiong since he sits as acting governor of the ARMM,” Tan lamented.

Adding that “the way he (Adiong) handles things and manage the affairs of the region, is more of a duplication on how detained Governor Ampatuan takes care of it when he was still the governor of ARMM.”

He said his government had continued to beg the ARMM government for infrastructure projects and funds to finance the livelihood assistance program of Sulu aimed to uplift the living condition of the people in the province.

Tan accused Adiong of allegedly playing favoritism by pouring more funds to provinces in the region were his relatives are the top officials.

“How can our people in Sulu have a better living when the ARMM officials led by Adiong do not help us,” he asked.

He said funds for infrastructure development and livelihood programs coming from the national government coursed through the ARMM, aids from the international communities for development and livelihood including funds for development coming from the ARMM do not reach them.

President Arroyo has directed last year all her Cabinet secretaries to give special attention to the Sulu government in its program for development, peace and progress.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/252996/official-laments-armm-s-neglect-help-develop-sulu

ARMM to receive fresh AusAID support in education

PIA News Release

ARMM to receive fresh AusAID support in education

Isabela, Basilan (8 April) -- The Government of Australia plans to provide a long-term support to the improvement of the quality and access to education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim in Mindanao (ARMM) through the introduction of another round of assistance that builds on the successes of the now concluded eight-year Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM) project.

The announcement was made in a press statement from the ARMM's Bureau of Public Information.

BPI quoted Ramon Bobier, BEAM project director, to have said that the new program would be a 5 to 10 year support to basic education exclusively implemented in the ARMM provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, and the City of Marawi.

As the project officially ended in November last year, efforts are now being undertaken to draw up the new project through a 12-month implementation support to BEAM-ARMM design with the involvement of several stakeholders. The new phase will include the implementation of a peace education framework specifically tailored to suit the needs of children in the region, the BPI said.

ARMM School and regional officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) have recently participated in a two-day workshop forum on peace education sponsored by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to help craft the said framework.

A handout given during the forum describes peace education as education that is geared toward a culture of peace, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines as "a growing body of shared values, attitudes, behaviors and ways of life based on: nonviolence, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms; understanding, tolerance and solidarity; sharing and free flow of communication; and full participation and empowerment of women."

The ARMM Education Secretary however underscored that peace education framework should have Islamic teachings as its foundation, the BPI press statement said.

Education Sec Hamid Aminodin Barra, who provided an input on Islamic framework on peace and respect for human dignity in the forum, averred that the Islamic context must always be considered in any project that will be undertaken in the ARMM, even as he also allayed apprehensions that this could contribute to extremism as "Islam is a religion of moderation."

Education officials in the ARMM affirmed that the AusAID-BEAM project has helped improved the learning outcomes of school children in the field of English, Science and Math. The AusAID-BEAM project has also increased accesses to children living in remote and depressed communities - with its wide-ranging and innovative schemes. Education officials however admitted that school children in the ARMM still lag behind over other regions in terms of literacy.

The new AusAID support will focus on the particular education needs of ARMM with its unique culture and diverse populace taken into consideration. (BPI/PIA9-BST)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p100408.htm&no=41&r=&y=&mo=

Official objects plan to make Zambo as provisional seat of proposed region

By NONOY E LACSON
February 14, 2010, 3:05pm

ZAMBOANGA CITY – City Mayor Celso Lobregat expressed his strong objection to make this city as the provisional seat of the proposed Autonomous Region in Southwestern Mindanao.

Lobregat, in a letter to House Speaker Prospero C. Nograles, strongly objects to the passage of House Bill (HB) 4963, making this city as provisional seat of the proposed Autonomous Region in Southwestern Mindanao as contained in Section 3, Article 2 of the Bill.

He said Rep. Maria Isabel Climaco (1st District, Zamboanga City) furnished him a copy of HB 4963, introduced by Tawi-Tawi Rep. Nur Jaafar.

The bill amending Republic Act (RA) 6734 is titled “An Act Providing for an Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as amended by RA 9054, providing for the creation of the Autonomous Region in Southwestern Mindanao, and the Autonomous Region in Central Mindanao.”

Lobregat specifically cited Section 3, Article 2 of the said bill which states that “Until the seat of the Regional Government is transferred as provided, the provisional seat of the Autonomous Region in Southwestern Mindanao shall be in Zamboanga City, and the Autonomous Region in Central Mindanao shall be in Cotabato City.

“The Regional Assembly, elected after the plebiscite, shall within its term identify the site of the permanent seat of the regional government.”

The bill also provides that the a plebiscite will be held simultaneously with the May 2010 local and national elections and that the first regional elections for the elective officials of the Autonomous Regions will be held on the second Monday of August 2011.

The bill states that a plebiscite will be conducted at each and every village in the provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, and the cities of Isabela, Pagadian, Dipolog, Dapitan, and Zamboanga in Southwestern Mindanao; and each and in every village in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Saranggani, and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, Iligan, Kidapawan, General Santos, Koronadal, and Tacurong in Central Mindanao.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/243471/official-objects-plan

DepEd-ARMM stops illegal deductions from teachers’ pay

By Joselle Badilla
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 17:41:00 02/10/2010

Filed Under: Government, Education, Wages & Pensions

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has started introducing strict measures to prevent illegal deductions from the salaries of public school teachers.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hamid Barra, DepEd ARMM secretary, said the enforcement of strict measures to stop illegal salary deductions was part of Acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong's campaign to protect the welfare of the region's teachers.

Measures against illegal deductions were first implemented in Lanao del Sur, where up to 10,000 teachers were said to have been hit by the deductions.

According to Barra, paychecks are now being given directly to the teachers.

On February 6, Barra personally handed the January checks of teachers from the five school divisions in Lanao del Sur during a meeting held at the provincial capitol gym in Marawi City.

"I was directed by Governor Adiong to make sure that no teacher will go home without his paycheck," he said.

The distribution of the checks spared the teachers from shelling out up to P1,700 per month in contributions prescribed by local education officials, he said.

Barra also warned he would prosecute erring education officials who insist on making deductions from teachers’ paychecks.

"We mean business this time," he said.

Barra said the January paychecks of teachers in Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi were distributed through the "usual process" at the division levels.

"He (Adiong) also wants reforms in the DepEd-ARMM. We have the same concerns," Barra said.

Adiong became the region's top leader following his appointment by Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on December 11.

Adiong, ARMM vice governor, was named acting governor after the arrest and detention of ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan over his alleged involvement in the Maguindanao massacre.

Barra revealed a plan to investigate the sale of teaching posts.

According to reports received by DepEd-ARMM, applicants have been asked to shell out up to P150,000 to get appointed as teachers.

Barra also warned fixers in the DepEd that they would be sanctioned if proven to have been involved in the "selling of appointments."

"There will be no sale of items. For those who passed the (licensure) examination, give them what they deserve. Items are not for sale," he said.

The DepEd-ARMM will hold a management audit to assess the teachers' conformity with the standing rules and regulation of the department, and verify the personnel and finances of a school or office, according to Barra.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100210-252423/DepEd-ARMM

Autonomy vote in French exclaves

AlJazeera News
Sunday, January 10, 2010
07:47 Mecca time, 04:47 GMT

Residents of French Guiana and the Caribbean island of Martinique are heading to the polls to decide whether or not to seek more autonomy from France.

On Sunday, voters in both departments will choose whether to allow local governments more administrative freedom while remaining a part of France.

"If we don't take this small step, we will deprive ourselves of an extremely important development tool, and we will send an extremely negative signal to France", Claude Lise, Martinique's general council president, said.

If the referendum is approved, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, will determine the extent of both departments' autonomy.

Demonstrations

Sarkozy first suggested the referendum in June last year following lengthy strikes in Martinique and the neighbouring island Guadeloupe.

In violent demonstrations, residents expressed their discontent at the high cost of living and perceived social inequalities. The unrest paralysed the economy, shuttered schools and drove away tourists.

At the time, Sarkozy said he could not defend the status of overseas departments
because it perpetuated a system he called "unfair, obscure and biased".

Supporters of Sunday's referendum in Martinique said it would help revive the island's economy.

Growing support

Garcin Malsa, the mayor of the southern town of Sainte Anne, said there is growing support for moves towards independence from what he describes as the legacy of French imperialism.

"The level of unemployment here is approaching 30 per cent. That is a form of colonialism that we denounce," he told Al Jazeera.

"There's a class of [the predominantly white, originally French] Beke that is very important A small minority of one per cent of the population that controls all the economic power."

The majority of opponents are right-wing politicians who say the status quo provides more security than the proposed referendum, and they argue that the departments have not taken full advantage of their relationship with France.

"Why risk the department's status at a time when Martinique's local government is broke and has turned toward the mainland?" Louis-Joseph Manscour, deputy mayor of the northeastern community of Trinite, said.

Guiana vote

The referendum is a first for French Guiana. Martinique presented a similar measure to voters six years ago.

In French Guiana, six of eight political groups have said they support the referendum, while two reject it, French Overseas Radio-Television reported last week.

In October 2003, Jacques Chirac, the former French president, allowed four islands to hold a referendum, including Martinique and Guadeloupe, but not French Guiana, which objected to its exclusion.

Martinique and Guadeloupe rejected the measure, which would have combined the islands' two legislatures into one. Proponents had said the referendum would give provinces power to govern more efficiently, while opponents viewed it as a step toward independence.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/01/201011032036391481.html

Former Defense Secretary Joins Calls for ARMM Abolition

'Gibo' joins calls for ARMM abolition

By EDMER F. PANESA

December 20, 2009, 4:31pm

Administration presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. has joined the calls for the abolition of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), saying its creation two decades ago merely resulted in “systematic failure.”

“The results speak for themselves,” Teodoro said, citing the region’s inability to control violence, a spate of kidnappings and rampant lawlessness.

He noted that last month’s massacre of 57 people in Mindanao in the major election-related killings in the country was linked to the powerful Ampatuan clan, a scion of which is governor of ARMM.

Teodoro, the standard-bearer of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD in the 2010 presidential elections, said the people of five provinces and one city comprising the ARMM would have the final say on whether the strife-torn region can continue or not.

He said a vote in the ARMM provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and the city of Marawi may have to be called to allow stakeholders to review the ARMM performance and decide if they wish the r egion to continue under the set-up.

“This is very controversial but I have to say it. We cannot allow the taxpayers to subsidize the operation of an institution that is clearly not working,” Teodoro said, following his visit to Buluan town in Maguindanao, his third in as many weeks.

“We must ask the ARMM’s constituents whether they prefer local autonomy or to revert to national government supervision,” he added.

Created in the 1990s, the ARMM brought self-rule to the Muslim minority instead of secession but failed dismally to uplift lives in the country's most depressed region.

More than P12 billion in government funds have been poured into the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao coffers for peace and order and economic development.
Teodoro also called on the government to conduct a full audit of the funds that were provided the ARMM to determine whether they reached their intended users.

He said that the various sectors and groups in the ARMM must meet to decide whether the ARMM has proven responsive to their needs. “It is up to them (stake holders) whether the ARMM should continue to exist or not,” Teodoro said.

The Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential bet said the ARMM should serve a lesson to the government in future decisions that would grant autonomy to any region or province in the country.

“Before granting autonomy, the government must also determine whether the territory or province petitioning for it is really capable of handling responsibilities appurtenant to being an independent entity,” Teodoro stressed.

Concerned groups in the ARMM have started calling for the abolition of the ARMM for its failure to address basic social and economic issues, widespread corruption among the local bureaucracy, and coddling by some of its officials of private armed groups.

Republic Act No. 9054 that created the ARMM in 1990 provides that the autonomous region “shall remain an integral and inseparable part of the national territory of the Republic.” The President exercises general supervision over the regional governor.

The regional government has the power to create its own sources of revenues and to levy taxes, fees, and charges, subject to constitutional provisions and the provisions of RA 9054.

Reports showed that ARMM remains one of the most impoverished areas in the Philippines. It had a per capita gross regional domestic product of only P3,433 in 2005, 75.8 percent lower than the national average of P14,186.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has a population of 4.1 million based on the 2007 census. It is the country's poorest region, where average annual income was 89,000 pesos in 2006, less than one-third of the Manila level. Poverty incidence in the region was a high 45.4 percent in 2003, almost twice the national average of 24.4 percent.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/234948/gibo-join

ARMM releases new list of Cabinet members; DepEd and Health secretaries out

by Carolyn O. Arguillas

Thursday, 31 December 2009 00:02

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/30 December) – The Office of the Regional Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) released on December 29 a new list of Cabinet members with appointments signed December 21, but two names are missing from last week’s announcement: Dr. Alejandrito Descallar of Marawi City as Health Secretary and Makil Pundaodaya of Ditsaan Ramain, Laano del Sur as Education Secretary. MindaNews reported on December 25 that Pundaodaya, regional chief of the Department of Education in Region 12 in the 1990s, has, under Administrative Order 80 on July 31, 1999 (http://www.chanrobles.com/administrativeorders/administrativeorderno80%201999.html),been disqualified “from re-employment in the government service,” and his financial benefits forfeited after he and Diamar Kadon were found guilty of Gross Neglect of Duty for having “signed and approved disbursement vouchers for undelivered graders' desks and their failure to ascertain the delivery of said materials/equipment” from 1992 to 1993. The AO noted that while Kadon was dismissed from his post (he was Education regional director as of 1999), the case of Pundaodaya, who had retired from government service on August 29, 1995, was dismissed “for being moot without prejudice to the imposition of the accessory penalties of prohibition from re-employment in the government service and forfeiture of all his financial benefits.” Descallar and Pundaodaya belonged to the first batch of appointees presented on December 21. The second batch was announced on December 22. But a new listing of the Cabinet members dated 29 December with “appointments signed December 21, 2009” now shows Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao as concurrent “Office Caretaker” of the ARMM Department of Health. Sinarimbo is not a doctor. He is a lawyer. But in Memorandum 257 dated December 28, 2009, Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong said that “in addition to your function as Executive Secretary of the Office of the Regional Governor and in the exigency of public service, you are hereby designated as Office Caretaker of the Department of Health –ARMM.” “As such, you are authorized to perform duties and responsibilities inherent to the said position. The order shall take effect immediately and remain in full force and effect until revoked by the undersigned. Any other orders/issuances earlier issued which contravene this order are hereby revoked accordingly. For information and compliance.” The Office of the Regional Governor is silent on Pundaodaya’s status but his name is no longer listed among Cabinet member as of 31 December 2009. Here’s the new list of Cabinet members: Lanao del Sur DILG director Haround Al Rachid Lucman, Jr. (Local Governments); Lanao Sur 1st District Engineer, Engr. Titingalangit Sumagayan (Public Works and Highways); Atty. Lomala Balindong of Malabang, Lanao del Sur (Secretary of Agriculture and Fisheries); Camid Gandamra of Marawi City (Agrarian Reform Secretary); Usman Tantao Sarangani (Environment Secretary); Atty. Asnaira Maradang Batua of Disain Ramain in Lanao del Sur (Trade and Industry Secretary); Myra M. Alih of Jolo, Sulu (Labor Secretary); Atty. Alnie Burahim of Basilan (Transportation and Communications Secretary); Fradzkhan Ilaji (Science and Technology), Akira Alonto of Lanao del Sur (OIC Director, Intelligence and Security Services); Mary Anne Gener, Executive Assistant VI (Manila Liaison Office of the Regional Governor); David Ali of the Department of Trade and Industry (Executive Director, Official Development Assistance Unit); Elvino Balicao, Sr., (Deputy Governor for Christian Affairs); lawyer Ishak Mastura, former Trade and Industry Secretary and later on, Deputy Executive Secretary (chair of the Regional Board of Investments); Atty. Baratucal Laguindab Caudang of Marawi City (Attorney-General of the Office of the Attorney-General); Ali Macabalang (executive director, Bureau of Public information); Casan Pawidan (assistant regional treasurer); Romeo Diocolano (director of the Technical Management Service). [Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)] http://www.mindanews.com/

Adiong appoints predominantly Maranao Cabinet

by Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews

Friday, 25 December 2009 15:43

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 December) – Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong this week named his new Cabinet members, most of them fellow Maranaos, one of them supposedly barred from employment in any government office due to corrupt practices.

In his inaugural speech on December 14, Adiong acknowledged the “enormous” challenges facing the five-province, two-city Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) but “armed with the best of intentions and aided by a component team of the best minds and well-meaning public servants, we intend to embark on a journey towards peace, justice, unity and development.”

He said he would “professionalize our regional government to ensure that our bureaucracy is administered by qualified and competent public servants.”

Four of his appointees are reportedly his relatives: Haroun Alrashid Lucman, Jr of Marawi City, the provincial director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as Local Governments Secretary; Akira Alonto as the OIC Director for Intelligence and Security Services; Abu Hamza Alonto as Executive Director of the Regional Sports Commission and Rahman Alonto as executive director of the Bangsamoro Youth Office.

No other information was available on Lucman, Abu Hamza and Rahman but Akira Alonto was Lanao del Sur security chief in 2002.

Engr. Titingalangit Sumagayan, district engineer of the 1^st district in Lanao del Sur was named ARMM Public Works secretary.

Lawyer Lomala Balindong of Malabang in Lanao del Sur was named Agriculture secretary while Camid Gandambra of Marawi City was named Agrarian Reform secretary. Gandambara was ARMM Transportation and Communication secretary in 2006.

Named Health Secretary was Dr. Alejandrito Descallar of Marawi City while Makil Pundaodaya of Ditsaan Ramain, Laano del Sur was named Education Secretary.

Pundaodaya was regional chief of the Department of Education in Region 12 in the 1990s.

Under Administrative Order 80 on July 31, 1999 (http://www.chanrobles.com/administrativeorders/administrativeorderno80%201999.html), Pundaodaya was disqualified “from re-employment in the government service,” and his financial benefits forfeited after he and Diamar Kadon were found guilty of Gross Neglect of Duty for having “signed and approved disbursement vouchers for undelivered graders' desks and their failure to ascertain the delivery of said materials/equipment” from 1992 to 1993.

The Commission on Audit team found 1,823 desks valued at P936,610 were not delivered to Iligan City Schools Division; 2,051 desks worth P1,025,500 were unaccounted for in Marawi City Schools Division; and 6,613 desks amounting to P3,306,500 supposedly allocated to Sultan Kudarat Schools Division went missing.

"Aside from the team's findings of shortage in the deliveries of graders' desks, it was also found that the quality of the graders' desks is poor - the lumber used was not seasoned, not properly cleaned or plained thereby resulting in the rough appearance of the chairs. And some of the desks were already broken or destroyed,” the report of the Presidential Commission Against Graft and Corruption (PCAGC) said.

The AO noted that while Kadon was dismissed from his post (he was Education regional director as of 1999), the case of Pundaodaya, who had retired from government service on August 29, 1995, was dismissed “for being moot without prejudice to the imposition of the accessory penalties of prohibition from re-employment in the government service and forfeiture of all his financial benefits.”

The newspaper, Malaya, in its December 3, 2009 issue (http://www.malaya.com.ph/12032009/metro3.html) reported that the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has convicted 12 former officials of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (now DepEd) of multiple counts of graft in connection with alleged anomalous purchase of school desks from 1992 to 1993.

“Sentenced to a total of 18 to 30 years in jail for three counts of graft were former DECS Region XII directors Diamar Kadon and Makil U. Pundaodaya,” the report read. Ten others were found guilty of several counts of graft.

In its verdict promulgated last Nov. 25, the court said prosecutors sufficiently established the liability of the defendants for anomalies attending six purchase contracts for school desks.

Adiong also named lawyer Asnaira Maradang Batua of Ditrsain Ramain, Lanao del Sur as the new Trade and Industry Secretary while Usman Tantao Sarangani of Madalum, Lanao del Sur was named Environment secretary.

The new Solicitor-General is Atty. Baratucal L. Caludang; David Ali is the Official Development Assistance Executive Director; former Wao (Lanao del Sur) mayor Elvino Balicao, Sr., is Deputy Governor for Christian Affairs; while Manila Bulletin correspondent Ali Macabalang has been named Executive Director of the ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information.

Macabalang, also of Lanao del Sur but who has spent a longer time in Maguindanao, is not new to the office. Under the first Maranao ARMM Governor, Liningding Pangandaman (1993-1996), Macabalang was chief of the information office, then named Media Affairs Division.

Most of Adiong’s appointees are not known. Only a handful yielded results in google.com.

The only non-Maranaos among the new appointees are lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, the new Executive Secretary; lawyer Ishak Mastura, chair of the Regional Board of Investments; Myrah M. Alih of Jolo, Sulu, Labor and Employment secretary; and Alnie Burahim of Basilan, a 2006 bar passer is secretary of Transportation and Communication.

Mastura had earlier served as ARMM Trade Secretary and later Assistant Executive Secretary to ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan who is presently facing charges of rebellion.

Adiong was named Acting Governor of the ARMM by Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno and will likely stay in his post up to the end of the term of officials of the ARMM on September 30, 2011 because the crimes “charged against the regional governor are of the nature that bail is not recommended (and) is not possible.”

Puno told reporters after the installation of Adiong on December 14 here that this is the likely scenario because ARMM Governor Ampatuan has become “legally incapacitated to rule.” Aside from criminal charges, Puno said, Ampatuan is also going to face administrative charges which would also call for his suspension.

Ampatuan was elected governor in 2005 and was reelected in 2008 for another term that ends September 30, 2011. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

Saturday, 26 December 2009

by Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews

Friday, 25 December 2009 15:43

http://www.mindanews.com