Too long has Pork corrupted our polity: legislatures, bureaucracy, electorate. It is like a festering sore upon the body politic that doesn’t heal because of the political maggots that feed on it. Everyone knows that Pork serves mainly to feed the vanity and political agenda of its users. That it is used to manipulate the poor and the impressionable among our electorate is reprehensible. This cynical scheme to extract benefits from the public service by frying the constituency in its own fat should have no place in a society whose Constitution implores Divine Providence for guidance. It is time we get rid of this major corruptor of our democracy. We just haven’t matured enough or learned enough to handle abuses of this kind.

Pork is not evil per se; everyone knows there is Pork in other societies. But in them its handling is protected by a regime of transparency and accountability that works. It works because it is anchored on an ethic backed by the Rule of Law. To abuse Pork in those societies isn’t worth it. For in addition to a system of checks and balances that won’t tolerate it, they have a hard core of vigilant, no-nonsense citizens who will not forgive betrayers of the public trust. Such is the force of established tradition and culture which, sad to say, we Filipinos have yet to institutionalize.

Every parent knows the folly of giving large allowances to kids or to persons with immature impulses; they’ll only squander the money or blow it on unworthy causes. As with parents, so with society—especially a relatively young society like ours whose institutions are very much still a work-in-progress. It is folly for our society to slice huge portions of our scarce resources and let people of uncertain integrity or legitimacy handle them—not especially in an age of palusot, where impunity seems fashionable, and where elections can be bought. Even duly sworn officials seem helpless against temptation, too readily violating their oath. Under these circumstances, the better part of valor is to withdraw the excessive Pork allocations and use these—perhaps P50 billion or more!—for the purposes of your reform agenda.

Accordingly, as our electorate prepares to put a new Congress in place by May, we urge you, Mr. President, to disown and abolish the Pork Barrel System. Now, not later! We ask that (1) the funds earmarked for it be turned over to our communities through their respective local development councils (Sec 106-115, R.A. 7160); and (2) that this be effected using a formula similar to the one apportioning internal revenue allotments (IRA) for barangay, municipality, city, and province (Sec. 284-288).

We believe that your doing so will fulfill the unfinished agenda of EDSA I which your mother, our beloved President Cory, could only dream of, namely:

Energize national development from the grassroots up. The masses, poor as they are, cannot induce real development by themselves. Solidarity within the community is essential. All sectors in the 42,000+ barangays that are the wellsprings of productivity and progress need to be involved. All must learn to reach out across economic classes, occupations and professions and collaborate in the tasks of community development. Especially critical is the involvement of the resource-rich and better-educated in every community. It is bad that, thinking their barangay too small, its funds too little, they ignore its governing processes, rarely participating in its programs.

They deprive the community, in its striving for development, of their ideas, resources, technology, and work ethic. Challenged by the task of redeploying funds from Pork for their community, their interest will perk up and move them to join hands with the rest to assure better management and greater productivity. Their involvement will give impetus to the flowering of developmental initiative at the grassroots.

Institutionalize Autonomy/Good Governance. Added funds for operations and projects will boost prospects for more development and necessitate the activation of the non-performing mechanisms for planning/public administration at every level (Sec 106-115). For instance, the law requires that at least ¼ of the LDC membership must be from (and be nominated by) local NGOs or institutions; but this is blithely ignored. As a result, local governments do not benefit from their experience and capabilities. Let us end the monopoly of trapos over local governance; ever wary of “threats” to their entrenched power/positions, they exclude the creative or the highly competent in the community from the circle of governance. Because of this, LGUs continue to be victims of patronage and the dependency syndrome, forcing people into mendicancy.

Minimize graft/corruption, maximize savings, have more money for development. Letting the community take charge of the funds, with its LDC directly overseeing programs, will stop thievery or waste associated with the brokered distribution of Pork and the corrupt auctioning or awarding of projects. Funds that are lost to bribes, commissions, and crooked procurement will be conserved and made available for more development programs and projects.

Let legislators focus/concentrate on legislation. Freed from the mundane tasks of identifying, prioritizing, funding, and supervising local projects, congressmen and senators will become professional legislators, more serious about enacting laws with far-reaching impact on nation-building—no longer inclined to usurp the work of the Executive, and less likely to indulge in “epalism” by jockeying for credit from public works projects and other gimmickry.

Make communities more productive. As the corporate functions of local governments, especially the barangays, gain appreciation and attention from the community’s professionals and institutions, more productive enterprises will arise. Then the land, labor, and capital of LGUs will be better utilized. Production-marketing activities will be more efficient. The local economy will expand. The Gross Barangay Product will then assume importance as it gains credence as a gauge of local development and a booster of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.

Engage more Filipinos in nation-building. With progressive residents (the passive factor at grassroots level today) mobilized and involved—democracy will become inclusive and vibrant, providing a framework for consensus building, collaboration, solidarity—a strong, community-based political will. It will be reflected in politically-stable, relatively crime-free communities: the result of a citizenry fired by an assertive brand of sovereignty that demands/contributes to a better quality of life, high standards of performance, improved health and sanitation, orderly neighborhoods, political stability, and so on.

Make democracy the partner of development. People-power in bloom will lead Philippine society closer to attaining the ideal of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Democracy with a dynamic, productive mode will more surely promote human development and a strong the base for what can be rightly claimed as a Strong Republic. There will be direct democracy and a parliamentary government in the barangay as ordained by law. As the primary level of our political system, the barangay will function properly as a government, a public corporation, and an economy—exemplifying a small republic from which the Philippine Republic draws its strength, one that creates its own prosperity and makes the state policy of autonomy a reality.

Finally, if the people are adequately informed of their essential role and powers as sovereign citizens, Filipinos will not have to reach so high up the political ladder to address their concerns; They have but to convene the Barangay Assembly, which is their parliament and of which they are members (Sec 397-398) and through it transform the grassroots into the true base of People Power in the House of Democracy that President Cory built from the wreck of Dictatorship. Only then can we claim confidently that barangays are the durable foundation of our sovereign state, the formidable base of a Strong Republic.

Mr. President:

These items on the unfinished Agenda of EDSA and of your Excellency’s mother, President Cory, beloved heroine of Filipinos everywhere, remain pending. She could only dream about them during her time. It now remains for you to make them real in the land which gave birth to People Power.

Please abolish that ignominious Pork Barrel now. Let us admit that our society still is ill-prepared to fully secure the public trust against abuse, irresponsibility and/or reckless thievery! (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Manny Valdehuesa is the president and national convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc. He can be reached at valdehuesa@gmail.com )

LENTE Zamboanga chair Jose Augustus Villano said his group found that of the 847 registered PWD voters in Zamboanga City, 505 or almost 60 percent are from Barangay Taluksangay.

Villano himself observed voting at the five clustered precincts of Taluksangay. He immediately noticed that almost all voters, whether they appeared to have a disability or not, were helped by a small group of people stationed inside the precinct.

When Villalon asked election officers about them, he was told they were “liners” there to assist PWDs. LENTE records show that 80 to 90 per cent of all who voted were assisted.

Villalon thought that the people assisted might have been illiterate rather than PWDs. “I asked them in both Tagalog and in the native dialect Tausug and they understood. I asked them who they want to vote for and they pointed at the names.”

When he asked the voters how they were related to the “liners,” they replied, “Sila ang magvo-vote para sa amin (They were the ones who voted for us).”

Villalon said that since the “liners” were the same for all the voters that he saw entering, they could not possibly qualify as PWD assistors as prescribed by Comelec.

Section 7 of Republic Act 10366 or an act authorizing the Commission on Elections to establish precincts assigned to accessible polling places exclusively for persons with disabilities and senior citizens states that a PWD may have as assistor a relative within the fourth degree of sanguinity or consanguinity, any person of confidence belonging to same household, or any member of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI).

The law, which was approved Feb 15 this year also states that “except for the members of the BEIs, no assistor can assist for more than three times.”

When Villalon told the election officers that this was illegal, the BEI replied that she cannot assist the voters herself because she is busy.

Taluksangay is a coastal barangay about 17 kilometers east of downtown Zamboanga with a population of about 8,000 mostly Muslim residents.

It is the bailiwick of the Nuños, an old and respected Muslim family. To this family belongs Lilia

Lilia Nuño talks to the media after she was declared winner of the race for representative of the first district of Zamboanga City. Nuño is the city’s first Muslim representative.

Nuño was declared by Comelec in the evening of May 14 as winner in the race for second district representative, beating Jomar Lobregat, brother of incumbent mayor, Celso Lobregat.

In an interview with Nuño moments before she was declared winner, she said that it is not true that there are that many registered PWD voters in Taluksangay. “That’s definitely not true… that there are that much PWDs in Taluksangay.”

As to the “liners,” she explained that there are many Badjaos in Taluksangay who do not know how to either read or write. The liners, she said, were there for these people, as well as for PWDs.

“Those people who go with the Badjaos and with those who do not know how to read and write (are there) to assist voting,” Nuño said. “It does not mean whatsoever in any way that they manipulate their votes. How can you manipulate when there present are Task Force Zamboanga, the police, their watchers are there, NAMFREL is there?”

Badjaos are an indigenous ethnic group who usually live nomadic lives on boats or in houses on stilts in the seaside.

Despite its small voting population, Taluksangay was a point of contention during the campaign period. Jomar Lobregat’s party, Adelante Zamboanga, claimed that they were not allowed to post their materials in there.

In a news item in Zamboanga Times on April 14, Adelante Zamboanga team coordinator Rudy Lim said that when he asked Taluksangay barangay chairman Abdurahman Nuño if they can conduct a pulong-pulong (meeting) in Taluksangay, Nuño replied, “No deal.”

Abdurahman Nuño is the husband of Lilia and sits in the city council representing the second district and is president of the Association of Barangay Captains.

Nuño denied Lobregat’s allegations. “We are very, very careful you know. Because we know all eyes are on Taluksangay because Taluksangay is a bailiwick of the Nuños. They think we manipulate (but) we would never do that.”

He clarified that they discouraged other parties from going there because “the (Taluksangay) people know that they had been hitting me. If they were booed they will feel bad, so we are just trying to prevent it. That is the reason why, although it was said in jest that it was a ‘no deal, they cannot go,’ but they took it seriously.” . (Yen Blanco Delgado and Barry Barraca/VERA Files)

Fuentes said deferring the barangay elections for several months or to a full year will give the Comelec more time to prepare and eventually help ease the tension brought about by last week’s national midterm and local polls.

“Almost everyone are still affected by election fatigue and that could trigger some problems if we push through with the (barangay elections) this October,” she said.

Fuentes, who was elected governor of South Cotabato in the May 13 polls, said she is not well aware of the current sentiments of her other colleagues at the House of Representatives regarding the matter but cited that several congressmen had previously pushed for such move.

A total of 14 proposed bills seeking the holding of the 2013 barangay elections to earlier and later dates were filed in the 15th Congress but they remained pending before the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.

On Monday, Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes said he wants the October barangay elections postponed to 2014 or early 2015 so they could already start with their preparations for the 2016 national and local elections.

He said such situation would allow the Comelec to make early recommendations with the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee in connection with the conduct of the 2016 polls.

Fuentes said that while the postponement of the barangay polls needs congressional action, specifically the revision of Republic Act (RA) 9340, any decision on the matter would still depend upon the preference of the Aquino administration.

RA 9340 mandates the conduct of synchronized elections for Barangay and the Sangguniang Kabataan every three years, specifically on the last Monday of October.

“If Malacanang will back it (postponement) up and make it an urgent matter, I think Congress will support it,” Fuentes said.

Should a postponement is eventually decided, she said it would be ideal to hold the elections not later than October 2014 so the Comelec can concentrate on preparing for the 2016 polls by 2015.

Fuentes said deferring the barangays polls beyond 2014 will be difficult for some barangays, especially within the province, whose officials were noted to have committed alleged abuses and were into some corrupt practices.

She did not name any of the alleged erring barangay officials but said they have been documenting their cases for possible filing of charges before the Department of Interior and Local Government and other concerned agencies.

“There are some barangay officials who have reportedly pawned their MOOE (maintenance and other operating expense) funds. These people should be disciplined and removed from office,” she added. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

Danilo Centillas, DA-12 high value crops coordinator, said coffee production in the region reached 27,869 metric tons (MT).

“Sultan Kudarat remains as the coffee production center in Region 12,” he told MindaNews on Tuesday.
In 2011, DA-12 records showed that coffee production in the area was at 28,502 MT.

From 2011 to 2012, there was a decline in production by 633 MT.

After Region 12, Region 11 or the Davao region posted the second highest coffee production in 2012 at 18,950 MT, followed by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 10,629 MT, making Mindanao the major coffee producer among the three major islands in the country.

Centillas blamed the high cost of fertilizers and other farm inputs for the declining coffee production in the region in 2012.

Region 12 comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.

Sultan Kudarat hosted the first regional coffee congress in November 2011 to further enhance the commodity’s production in the area.

Nescafe Philippines, Inc., the country’s major coffee buyer, graced the event to encourage more farmers to plant the commodity.

Current farm gate trading price of coffee in Sultan Kudarat ranges from P75 to P80 per kilo, Centillas said.

Nestle buys Class A coffee from traders at P92, P90 for Class B and P87 for Class C, he added.

Coffee beans produced in Sultan Kudarat are either transported to General Santos City or Tagum City in Davao del Norte where Nestle maintains buying stations, Centillas said.

In Mindanao, Nestle operates a processing plant in Cagayan de oro City, he added.

Region 12 has at least 23,000 hectares of coffee farms with about the same area still suitable for planting the commodity, said Amalia Jayag-Datukan, DA-12 director.

Sultan Kudarat has the largest area planted to coffee with at least 17,000 hectares, data from DA-12 showed.

Coffee is considered a priority crop in the region by the Agriculture department, which provides the sector with production technology and technical and marketing assistance, Datukan said.

She urged farmers to plant more coffee due to the crop’s demand in both local and foreign markets.

Datukan said that promoting coffee propagation was also part of the agency’s efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change, improve forest cover and address soil erosion.

Nelly Nita Dillera, Department of Trade and Industry director in Sultan Kudarat, earlier said that domestic demand for coffee is currently pegged at 65,000 MT while the country could only produce 30,000 MT, posting a deficit of 35,000 MT.

The deficit is filled up by importation, she said. (Bong Sarmiento/MindaNews)

Or is it fairer to say that people merely voted to comply with unwritten covenants that accompany patronage, favors, and gimmicks that they are party to in the course of selection? How about the observation that most, or certainly a large number of the voters, made their choices on the basis of popularity and name-recall?

These are legitimate questions in light of what is now universally admitted that vote-buying, vote-selling, and related corruption have become so widespread, occurring before and during the electoral period.

Pork

Before the vote-buying, there was widespread use of Pork Barrel funds (or simply, Pork) which congressmen and senators showered on local projects to impress the community and win its approval and support at election time.

Initiating such projects has nothing to do with a lawmaker’s duty, much less is funding them with taxpayer money, but they do it because it impresses naïve, impressionable, or corrupt voters. In other words, they use it to manipulate perceptions in the community, to create a favorable opinion. It is done in the name of development, but in reality it is personal propaganda and promotion, i.e. self-glorification designed to promote re-election. And all of it, from start to finish, including the billboards trumpeting the lawmaker’s name, is funded by taxpayer money.

So widespread is this cavalier spending of the taxpayer’s money by lawmakers that it has attained the status of normality. Pork-funded projects are now a regular feature in every community, a sight so common that it is taken for granted as part of the landscape both in its environmental and political sense.

Note, for example, that hardly anyone gives it any significance, not even the fact that it has become a major source of corruption, or the fact that Pork allocations attract greedy, unscrupulous traditional politicos—TRAPOS—and keeps them in office. No one questions how it finances their expensive campaigns year-round. Very few voters are aware of it happening in their own backyard. Worse, no one seems aware how Pork fills the bottomless pockets of politicos all the time (effortlessly!) since kickbacks and commissions from projects are regularly funneled into their accounts by contractors and suppliers.

Patronage politics

Handouts to provide immediate relief are the stock-in-trade of a TRAPO—money for fare, a few kilos of rice, a job referral, a few square meters of urban land or a sidewalk to squat on, a few doses of medicine, funeral expenses, or even a cake for a wedding, etc.. Instant gratification with no thought of the future or for the kind of governance that creates opportunities greater than what political favors could ever provide.

This is the insidious art of patronage politics, favors in exchange for votes, handouts to ensnare the needy, misguided charity (with a mercenary purpose). The noble mission of politics and statecraft is transmogrified into a marketplace for the miserable and the wretched in which the currency is political accommodation.

No better example of the insidious effect of this brand of politics can be found than in the city of Cagayan de Oro under Vicente Y. Emano, its just-vanquished mayor. Years ago, with the view to solidifying his voter-base, he adopted a policy of total accommodation to landless in-migrants (translation: voters), buying up tracts of land, which he distributed to “informal settlers” at the mere payment of one peso at first, then fifty centavos later on.

Labeled “Piso-Piso Program,” then “Singkwenta-Singkwenta” later, it was sort of a Robin Hood scheme: Collect taxes from productive sectors (locals), spend the money on giveaways to the homeless settlers (tax-exempt being part of the informal economy, and keep their votes captive. This was paralleled by a so-called “No Vote, Ibot!” policy of retribution (“If you don’t vote for me, out you go!”).

The scheme proved so potent as a strategy for political domination and longevity that its mastermind and the self-styled party he founded was able to keep a hammerlock on the city’s administration for 15 years until just recently. But it was no less potent, and lethal, for its having produced a city whose—let’s call a spade a spade—squatter population today outnumber its bona-fide residents.

Unless effectively challenged, patronage Politics turns elections into a mere formality. It predetermines election outcomes long before the election period and away from the polling precinct. Waged by trapos all year round, it is an unending campaign, election period or not, saving them the pretense of formulating party platforms or programs, or having to debate rival parties or candidates.

The purpose of patronage or Pork, its handmaiden, is to control votes through political favors, big and small. Each act of patronage, each release from the pork barrel, is calculated to rig the results of any election—so that by the time actual elections roll in, the cards are stacked against any opponent. It is the traditional way to snare and control votes, the principal tool of trapos to keep themselves and their dynasties in power.

Thus, with Pork as the Horn of Plenty backing them up, and patronage fueling their campaign machinery, it should surprise no one if the recent elections merely multiplied the number of trapos and dynasties in power, while also exponentially multiplying the likelihood of corruption, dishonesty, venality, and malaise afflicting our society as never before.

In casting a vote, did the people really make a decision or merely complied with their part of the bargain in the Pork Barrel/Patronage transaction? (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Manny Valdehuesa is the president and national convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc. He can be reached at valdehuesa@gmail.com )

“We’re quite happy that in the results of the election in both local and national level, the administration candidates dominated. So I think there will be no reason for the government not to push through with the processes in the negotiation when they have… majority (in) Congress,” Murad told MindaNews Friday afternoon at the reception hall of the Office of the MILF Peace Panel.

He said they hope the victory of the Liberal Party, the President’s party, “will be an advantage because we are relying much on the sincerity and the capability of the government to implement the (peace) process.”

Murad also said the MILF will start building a political party “within this year” in preparation for the 2016 elections when the first set of officials of the Bangsamoro is expected to be elected.

“Within this year, we will start already (setting up the political party).” Murad said in mixed English and Pilipino.

MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim at the MILF Peace Panel’s office in Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on May 17. MindaNews photo by Toto Lozano

Murad said they will form a political party because “we want to maintain the status of the MILF as an Islamic organization and the political party will be the arm of the MILF for the political process.”

Murad said they have yet to name the party but it will definitely contain the word “Bangsamoro.”

The Philippine government (GPH) and MILF peace panels signed on October 15 last year the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB). After the elections, they are supposed to complete the annexes on Wealth-sharing, Power-sharing and Normalization, to complete the comprehensive peace pact for the establishment of the Bangsamoro, the new autonomous political entity that would replace the 23-year old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The FAB also provides for the creation of a Transition Commission that would draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law. When the Basic Law is done, it will be submitted to Congress with the President certifying it as urgent and once passed by Congress will be submitted to a plebiscite in the core areas comprising the five-province, two-city Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the six towns in Lanao del Norte (Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal) and the barangays in the towns of Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigcawayan, Pikit and Midsayap that voted for inclusion in the 2001 plebiscite; the cities of Cotabato and Isabela in Basilan and all other contiguous areas where there is a resolution of the local government unit or there is a petition of at least ten per cent of the qualified voters in their area.

The future “Bangsamoro” will, as agreed upon by the GPH-MILF, have a ministerial form of government.

Murad acknowledged that in last week’s election, “nag dominate pa rin ang 3Gs (guns, goons, gold). But he said he is confident that in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, “we can at least gradually change the system because unless you change the system, we do not see a future for the electoral process because we observed that the 3Gs still dominate.”

The MILF is going to face two electoral processes between now and 2016: the plebiscite for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Basic Law and the election of the first set of officials of the “Bangsamoro” political entity in the May 2016 elections.

This year’s polls served as a preview to the plebiscite and the May 2016 polls with many MILF members voting for the first time. The MILF was perceived as supporting the candidacy of Tucao Mastura for governor of Maguindanao. Mastura lost to reelectionist Esmael Mangudadatu. His defeat raised doubts about an “MILF vote.”

Murad explained that “not all the MILF supported Tucao Mastura. There are those who voted also for the other side. We did not endorse any candidate so members were free to choose who they would vote for, who can help in the peace process. Not all voted because there are those who are not registered voters.”

While not citing figures, Murad acknowledged “marami” (many) registered in the general re-registration in the ARMM last year.

“In preparation for this year’s election?” MindaNews asked.

“Actually it’s not for this election. The preparation is actually for the plebiscite. We encouraged them to register in preparation for the plebiscite,” Murad said.

Murad is pleased that the peace process was carried as an election issue by candidates from both the administration and the opposition.

He said judging from the statements of Mangudadatu before the election, “he has been expressing his support to the Framework Agreement.”

“Actually, even during the campaign period he was also very, very supportive … of the Framework Agreement. In fact, he also thanked the MILF pronounce(ment) of neutrality (in) the election.”

He expressed confidence that the Bangsamoro Basic Law that would be crafted by the Transition
Commission would pass smoothly in Congress.

“Well that is our expectation but you know the politics in the Philippines …But we are really banking on the statement of the elected officials expressing their support to the Framework Agreement and also the President’s.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

Among 17 regions nationwide, the five-province, two-city ARMM is the country’s poorest, posting 46.9% according to the National Statistical Coordination Board’s “First Semester Per Capita Threshold and Poverty incidence Among Families, by region and provinces, 2006, 2009 and 2012” released on April 23 this year.

ARMM comprises Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao in the mainland, the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan.

Nationwide, the NSCB said, “22 out of 100 families were estimated to be poor in the first semester of 2012 with the average poverty incidence at 22.3%. In the ARMM, the figure is more than twice at 46.9% or 47 out of 100 families.

In Lanao del Sur, the figure is thrice the national average at 68.9% and Maguindanao at 57.8%. Basilan’s poverty incidence is at 32.5%, Sulu’s is 30.4% while Tawi-tawi’s is 20.8%.

“Actually, we are the poorest because of the two provinces but not the entire region,” Hataman told MindaNews shortly after the flag retreat late Friday afternoon at the ARMM’s main office.

Proclaimed earlier that day as winner in the ARMM gubernatorial race along with his running mate Haround Alrashid Lucman, Hataman attended the flag retreat, a weekly activity he enforced in the ARMM. Friday’s retreat ended with a raffle of, among others, cooking pots, rice cookers, rice dispensers, sacks of rice and brown envelopes containing cash.

He said the three island provinces are no longer on the list of poorest provinces and only the two mainland provinces are their problem.

“Challenge ito sa amin” (This is a challenge to us), he said.

He said he tasked his economic staff to study the situation so they would know how best to address the problem. “Target namin ibababa ito to single-digit during our term.”

Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, he said, have huge agricultural potentials but the former is more into trading while economic activity in the latter is “nakasentro sa political leaders.”
In the island provinces like Hataman’s Basilan, food is easily accessible and cheap, he said.

7th elected Gov, 1st minority

Hataman is the first elected ARMM governor coming from a minor ethnic group, the Yakan of Basilan. His mother is from Pata, Sulu.

He is the seventh elected governor of the 23-year old ARMM which has had two Maguindanaon governors: Zacaria Candao (1990-1993) and Zaldy Ampatuan (2005-until his detention on December 5, 2009 for his alleged involvement in the November 23, 2009 massacre of 58 persons in Ampatuan, Maguindanao); one Maranao. Liningding Pangandaman (1993-1996) and two Taosugs: Nur Misuari (1996 -2001) and Dr. Parouk Hussin (2002 -2005).

In the seven elections held in the ARMM, the May 13 election was the first synchronized with national mid-term and local elections.

In his Proclamation statement, Hataman said, “the voice of the great majority in ARMM has been heard through a clean and credible election, which was uncertain if not entirely improbable in the past.”

“The seeds of reforms have started to take roots during our incumbency as caretakers. Help us nurture these seeds so that their vines and fruits reach even the farthest island and remotest village in the region,” he said.

The three-year term of office of the elected ARMM officials will be cut short when the Bangsamoro Basic Law is ratified. After the ratification, the ARMM is deemed abolished and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) takes over in preparation for the first election of leaders of the Bangsamoro, the new autonomous political entity that will relace the ARMM.

Hataman said they “remain firm in our pledge and would step aside to make way…for a new political set-up meant to take the Bangsamoro to greater heights.”

ARMM or Bangsamoro

Hataman is optimistic that despite the delays, the target date of 2015 for the BTA to take over from the ARMM would be met.

He also said he does not see a diminution in the area of governance of the Bangsamoro.

In mixed English and Pilipino, Hataman said he believes the core area of the ARMM would be retained and may even be expanded.

“It’s simple. It really depends on the law. Either new Bangsamoro entity or back to ARMM,” he said.

“In the plebiscite, you ratify. If the new law is defeated, you go back to the old law. But I am optimistic that the Bangsamoro (law) will win,” he explained.

Transition governance

President Aquino named Hataman, a former Anak Mindanaw party-list representative, as OIC Governor in late December 2011. Aquino referred to him as the “ghostbuster of the ARMM” but Hataman said he’s done with “ghost-busting” and will now focus on the economy.

He said he hopes the President would see him now as “generally reformist, not just ghostbusting, that ARMM is reformed, developed and poverty is addressed.”

He said good governance should not just be done at the regional level but down at the barangay level.

Hataman said he would also see to the “smooth transition” toward the Bangsamoro by focusing also on capacitation of the present bureaucracy, how to strengthen it to achieve a smooth transition so that even if ARMM is abolished, the human resources could be used by the new political entity, except the heads of offices.

Even if the Transition Commission is independent and separate entity, Hataman said he would coordinate with them to capacitate human resources for the future Bangsamoro.

Hataman says he will “open talks with MILF and other BDA (Bangsamoro Development Agency) agencies, even with OPAPP (Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) for those who have potentials to go on OJT (on the job training).

“Personally, I want the Bangsamoaro entity to be successful, whoever they will put there. At least they know the dynamics of governance because even if you are good, if you do not know the dynamics, the culture in government, it would be difficult.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

Slain was West Migpulao Barangay Chairman Julian Nacau, who died on the spot after he was repeatedly shot at his residence around 12 noon Sunday, according to Police Regional Office-9 spokesperson Chief Insp. Ariel Huesca.

Huesca said that Nacau was allegedly shot to death by Muamar Fermin.

Insp. Ricardo Lubaton, Dinas police chief, on Monday said over the phone that Fermin was arrested in a follow-up operation.

Criminal charges are set to be filed against the suspect, said Lubaton.

Investigation showed that Nacau was eating lunch together with his family when Fermin arrived and allegedly shot the victim with a caliber .45 pistol.

Nacau’s family members, who scampered for safety, were unharmed.

The slain barangay official was known to be a staunch supporter of former Zamboanga del Sur provincial board member Wilfredo Asoy, who ran for town mayor but lost in the May 13 mid-term polls. (Mindanews)

Rescued by the PCG’s BRP-Nueva Vizcaya-I was M/L April Joy, which plies the Zamboanga City-Palawan route.

Commander Allan Corpuz, BRP-Nueva Vizcaya skipper, said Monday over a local television station they rescued M/L April Joy in the vicinity of Mangsee Island, Balabac, Palawan.

Paterson Jainuddin, the owner of M/L April Joy, disclosed they departed on Wednesday in Balabac en route to this city when the vessel’s engine conked out beyond repair.

Corpuz said M/L April Joy, which is skippered by Ibno Hassan, had lost radio contact and was drifting at sea for three days already at the time it was rescued.

The rescued ferry was towed by the BRP-Nueva Vizcaya and arrived late Sunday at a private wharf in this city.

Meanwhile, Corpuz said they were taking custody of M/L April Joy after learning that it was transporting passengers and cargoes without the required permits. (MindaNews)

This after Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes (second district), who has been elected as the new governor, vowed to implement the ban on open-pit mining in the next three years, or until 2016.

It was Fuentes who signed the controversial Environment Code that bans open-pit mining before stepping down as governor in 2010 after completing three straight terms.

Fuentes (Nationalist People’s Coalition) defeated incumbent Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. (United Nationalist Alliance) on Monday’s elections on a vote of 117,855 and 111,214, respectively, or a margin of 6,641 votes.

“I will implement the provisions of the Environment Code that bans open-pit mining,” Fuentes said, noting she was the one who signed the controversial measure.

During Pingoy’s term, he implemented the open-pit ban signed by Fuentes, despite lobbying from the company and pro-mining groups for him to disregard the prohibition.

The pro-mining groups failed to have the open-pit ban lifted by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or provincial board so far.

The new set of elected officials will take over on June 30, 2013.

During the campaign period, Fuentes and Pingoy also vowed to ensure that the ban on open-pit mining will stay.

Efforts of SMI to develop the Tampakan copper, touted as the largest known undeveloped copper reserve in Southeast Asia, has been hobbled by the open-pit mining ban imposed by South Cotabato.

In December last year, the company announced that it was moving the start of commercial operation from 2016 to 2019. Among the major challenges the company cited facing its operation was the open-pit ban in South Cotabato.

Last February, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources granted SMI an environmental compliance certificate (ECC), after rejecting it twice last year on the ground of the open-pit mining prohibition of South Cotabato.

As set by the ECC, an endorsement from the provincial government is among the other requirements needed by the firm before it can proceed to commercial production.

MindaNews contacted SMI spokesman John Arnaldo for comments on the company’s view on the matter, given the new set of officials, at 9:30 a.m. Monday but he asked for half an hour to issue a statement.

Arnaldo got back with an emailed statement at 1:19 p.m., “congratulating Fuentes on her successful election as the new South Cotabato Provincial Governor.”

“With the passage of the Aquino Administration’s National Mining Policy and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum directing that all local legislations be consistent with the national mining law, we hope that through continued dialogue with incoming Governor Fuentes and the rest of the South Cotabato provincial government officials, there will be a timely resolution to the open-pit ban in the South Cotabato Environment Code,” he said.

“We have worked with Congressman (sic) Fuentes in a number of development programs in South Cotabato, and we will continue to engage with her and the rest of the provincial government officials as their local stakeholder and development partner,” Arnaldo said.

As to the new set of composition of the provincial board, five party mates each of Fuentes and Pingoy won seats.

The winning bets were Gly Mariano Trabado (NPC), Romeo Tamayo (NPC) and Jobee Baitus (UNA) for the first district, and Vicente de Jesus (NPC), Ester Catorce (UNA), Grace Subere-Albios (NPC), Ervin Luntao (UNA), Agustin Demaala (NPC), Romulo Solivio (UNA) and Samuel Ladot (UNA) for the second district.

The vice governor-elect is Cecile Diel, an ally of Pingoy, who is the board’s presiding officer and could be the vote that could break any tie.

An incumbent board member, Diel, however vowed to protect the environment code as part of her platform of governance during the campaign period.

Fuentes said that while five of her party mates won seats to the provincial board, the ex-officio members for the leagues of councilors, barangay captains and the Sangguniang Kabataan are also her allies.

Basically, we have the numbers at the provincial board, she said.

In Tampakan town, reelectionist Mayor Leonardo Escobillo, a staunch supporter of the mining project of SMI, won as well as majority of his party mates in the Sangguniang Bayan. (Bong S. Sarmiento/MindaNews)

Acharon said his office is now preparing the necessary requirements for the filing of the measure, which sets the reconfiguration of the first and second legislative districts of South Cotabato to pave the way for the creation of a new legislative district in the area.

“The city has long been qualified to have its own separate legislative district, so (the passage of) this measure is long overdue,” he said.

The official said the separation into a new district also augurs well with the city’s development goals and direction.

Acharon, who is a former mayor of this city, was reelected last May 13 for a second term to the House of Representatives under the administration-backed Liberal Party-Nationalist People’s Coalition-Achiever’s with Integrity Movement (LP-NPC-AIM) ticket.

He convincingly won over reelected Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao’s younger brother Rogelio of the People’s Champ Movement-United Nationalist Alliance.

Acharon initially filed House Bill (HB) 6038 or “an act reapportioning the composition of the first and second legislative districts in the province of South Cotabato and thereby creating a new legislative district from such reapportionment,” on March 19, 2012.

It was referred to the House committee on local government on May 7 but failed to get past the preliminary discussions until the 15th Congress went on recess last February for the May 13 elections.

South Cotabato (2nd District) Second District Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes, who co-authored HB 6038, earlier admitted that they ran out of time to have the measure calendared for committee hearings as it was filed “quite late.”

Fuentes, who was elected governor of South Cotabato, expressed support for the re-filing and passage of the bill during her campaigns.

Her successor at the House, close ally Ferdinand Hernandez of the LP-NPC, had also endorsed the separation of this city into a new legislative district.

Under HB 6038, the present composition of South Cotabato’s first and second congressional will be reapportioned to carve out a separate or lone congressional district for this city.

The first district presently comprises this city and the municipalities of Tupi, Tampakan and Polomolok in South Cotabato.

The second district is composed of Koronadal City and the municipalities of Tantangan, Banga, T’boli, Surallah, Sto.Nino, Norala, and Lake Sebu in South Cotabato.

The proposed measure provided that South Cotabato’s first district will be reshaped, comprising the towns of Polomolok, Tupi, Tampakan and T’boli.

Koronadal City, which is a component city and capital of South Cotabato, and the six remaining towns will compose the province’s second district.

This city, which has a population of 538,086 based on the 2010 census, has long been classified as an independent and highly-urbanized locality but has remained a part of South Cotabato’s first congressional district.

It was originally a component of the undivided Cotabato empire province until Congress approved its charter in 1968. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

Gemma Rivera, DSWD Region 12 assistant director, said Monday a water purifying station project was recently completed in Barangay D. Lotilla in Isulan town through the national government’s flagship anti-poverty program Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS).

She said it was so far the first water purifying station project that was implemented in any part of the country under the Kalahi-CIDSS since it started in 2003.

The official said the project, which was expected to begin full operations by the end of the month or early June, will mainly benefit 765 households within the project area.

Rivera said the agency and community stakeholders spent a total of P846,638 for the implementation of the project, which was seen to end the decades of suffering of villagers from insufficient potable water supply.

“The residents were left with no choice but spend a portion of their meager income to buy potable drinking water to avoid consuming contaminated water and eventually get sick because of them,” she said in a statement.

Such situation was among the factors that drove most members of the community to live in dire poverty these past years, she said.

Aside from answering the community health concerns due to unsafe drinking water, Rivera said the project was expected to generate additional income for local residents.

She said it will specifically generate opportunities in terms of employment and local entrepreneurship as well as increase the village government’s revenues.

Kalahi-CIDSS forms part of the three-pronged anti-poverty convergence programs of the national government that are implemented by the DSWD.

Dubbed “Tatsulok,” the initiative includes the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps and Sustainable Livelihood Program.

Under the Kalahi-CIDSS, poor communities are capacitated to analyze their own problems, manage, plan, and implement their identified project to answer their pressing needs.

In Region 12 or the Soccsksargen Region, the project was able to help build various community infrastructure projects such as school buildings, bridges, health stations, water systems, day care centers, roads, post-harvest facilities, and other common services.

Region 12 comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and North Cotabato as well as the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

Based on records from the Provincial Board of Canvassers, seven governors-elect will be serving as governor for the first time but they have served previously in other posts or are sons of  governors “graduating” at the end of nine years on June 30. Of 18 who sought reelection, two are not returning to the Capitol. But two former governors are returning to their post after  spending three years in another elective post.

Six  others won even before the ballots were cast on May 13: they ran unopposed.

Among the family teams elected, the Dimaporos of Lanao del Norte and the Plazas of Agusan del Sur — the longest-surviving political clans in Mindanao in half a century — won again the gubernatorial post and their two congressional districts will again be represented by siblings in the case of the Plazas, and  in Lanao del Norte, by parents.

Governor Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo was elected to a third term in Lanao del Norte while his parents Imelda and Abdullah, both former governors and representatives, will be representing Congress in the first and second districts. In 2010, the governor’s sister, Fatima Aliah, was elected to represent the second district, a post held by their father Abdullah from 1987 to 1992 and 2001 to 2010 and will be held again in 2013 to 2016. Imelda was governor from 1998 to 2007 and was elected to the 1^st district in 2010 to 2013.

In Agusan del Sur, it will still be a Plaza-Plaza-Plaza team with Governor Adolph Edward Plaza voted to a fourth term (after 2001-2007 and 2010-2013)  his sisters Ma. Valentina and Evelyn Plaza-Mellana representing the two districts. Valentina was governor from 2007 to 2010.

The ten other executive-legislative family teams were elected in Agusan del Norte, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Tawi-tawi and Zamboanga del Sur.

Two provinces also elected family teams for Governor and Vice Governor – Dinagat Islands and Sulu, while three provinces elected family teams for Vice Governor and Representative – Compostela Valley, Misamis Occidental and Sarangani.

Brothers and sisters, fathers and sons

In Agusan del Norte, Rep. Ma. Angelica Rosedell Amante swapped posts with brother-Governor, Erlpe John. Both are completing their third terms by June 30. By then, Ms Amante will have returned to the gubernatorial post she held from 1995 to 2004 while her brother Erlpe, governor from 2004 to 2013, will be serving as representative.The siblings ran unopposed.

Bukidnon, Camiguin and Davao del Norte elected father and son teams. Bukidnon’s  returning governor Jose Ma. Zubiri, incumbent Vice Governor, was voted to a fourth term (after 2001 to 2010) and  Jose Ma. Zubiri III, elected to a third term. Zubiri served as Representative of the 3^rd district from 1987 to 1998. His son Juan Miguel, served that district from 1998 to 2007. Juan Miguel was elected Senator in 2007 but hounded by charges of having cheated to win, resigned in August 2011, his seat taken over by Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel who won in this year’s Senate race. Juan Miguel ran but lost his bid to win a Senate seat.

By June 30, 2016, the Zubiris will have served the third district of Bukidnon for nine terms  or 29 years – the seat bequeathed from father to son to another son. The Zubiri patriarch swapped posts with incumbent Governor Alex Calingasan, now vice governor-elect.

Like the Zubiris, the Romualdos have also dominated Camiguin’s politics, the lone district seat in their hands also from 1987 to 2016 –  from the patriarch Pedro Romualdo to son Jurdin Jesus and back to Pedro who was seeking reelection when he died last month. A grandson, Xavier Jesus, son of the incumbent governor Jurdin Jesus, won the seat. Jurdin Jesus became governor in 2007 after his father’s three terms from 1998 to 2007.

Fifth term

In Davao del Norte, Rodofo del Rosario won a fifth term as governor (after 1998-2004; 2007-2013). The two congressional districts are presently held by Del Rosario’s son Anthony and nephew Antonio Floirendo Lagdameo, Jr., Antony del Rosario from 2010 and Lagdameo from 2007. Like the Zubiris and Romualdos, the Del Rosario-Floireno clan has been representing the third and later second district since 1987.

The Del Rosario patriarch was representative from 1987 to 1998. Antonio Floirendo, Jr., his nephew, served from 1998 to 2007.

Davao del Sur and Lanao del Sur have brothers  for Governor and Representative:  Governor-elect Claude Bautista and Franklin, representative of the second district  of Davao del Sur and Mamintal Adiong, Jr., elected to a third term as governor and his brother Ansaruddin Adiong, representative of the fist district. Governor Adiong’s cousin, Pangalian Balindong was also elected to a third term  as representative of the second district.

In Davao del Sur, Governor-elect Bautista, representative of the second district of Davao del Sur from 2001 to 2007,  will be serving  as governor for the first time, and his brother Franklin, who is serving a fourth term (previous terms: 1998-2001; 2007 to 2013) as representative.  Both brothers served as  mayor of their hometown, Malita,  Franklin from 1988 to 1998, Claude from 1998 to 2001. Another brother, Benjamin, Jr. was  Governor from 2002 to 2007 and is incumbent mayor of Malita.The Bautista’s father, Benjamin, Sr., was representative from 1987 to 1998.

Like the Zubiris, Romualdos and the Del Rosario-Floirendo clan, the Bautistas will have been representing the second district of Davao del Sur for 29 years by 2016.

Brothers, cousins, brother and sister, husband and wife

Joining the team of brothers in the executive and legislative posts is the team of Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu and his brother, Representative-elect Zahid Mangudadatu. Mangudadatu was reelected while this is the first congressional term of Zahid, mayor of Pandag.

In Sultan Kudarat, Suharto “Teng” Mangudadatu, the Maguindanao governor’s cousin, was elected to a third term while his brother-in-law Raden Sakaluran was elected to a second term in Congress, representing the first district.  Sakaluran is married to Mangudadatu’s sister, Ruth, who ran unopposed for mayor of Lutayan town, the Mangudadatus’ hometown in Sultan Kudarat province.

In Tawi-tawi, the governor-elect is Nurbert Sahali, mayor of Panglima Sugala town and son of third-term governor Sadikul Sahali. His sister, Ruby Sahali was elected representative of the lone district.

In Zamboanga del Sur, Governor Antonio Cerilles was elected to a second term while wife Aurora was also elected to a second term as representative of the second district. The incumbent governor served as Representative from 1987 to 1998 and 2004 to 2010 while wife Aurora served as governor from 2001 to 2010 and representative from 1998 to 2001.

In Dinagat Islands and Sulu,  it’s a mother-son and father-son team,  respectively, for governor and vice governor.

In Dinagat Islands, Governor Glenda Ecleo was elected to a second term while son Benglen, incumbent provincial administrator, was elected vice governor.

In Sulu, Abdusakur Tan II is the incoming governor while his father, the incumbent governor Abdusakur Tan, is his vice governor. The elder Tan served as governor from 1996 to 2001 and from 2007 to 2013.

In Compostela Valley, Misamis Occidental and Sarangani, the vice governor s and representatives are also father and daughter and husband  and wife teams. In Compostela, the Vice Governor-elect is Manuel Zamora while his daughter Maria Carmen Zamora-Apsay won a second term unopposed in the first district.

In Misamis Occidental, Vice Governor-elect is Virginia Almonte while her husband, Jorge was elected to a second term as representative of the first district.

In Sarangani, first-time politician Jinkee Pacquiao won as Vice Governor while husband Emmanuel Pacquiao, the boxer, was elected to a second term, unopposed.

Re-elected

The 16 reelected governors are: Davao del Norte’s Rodolfo del Rosario (fifth term), Agusan del Sur’s Adolph Edward Plaza (fourth term), the following who will serve a third term:  Basilan’s Jum Akbar, Camiguin’s Jurdin Jesus Romualdo , Compostela Valley’s Arturo Uy, Davao Oriental’s Corazon Malanyaon, Lanao del Norte’s Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo, Lanao del Sur’s Mamintal Adiong, Jr, Sultan Kudarat’s Suharto Mangudadatu; and those who were elected to a second term: Dinagat’s Glenda Ecleo, Maguindanao’s Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, Misamis Occidental’s Herminia Ramiro,  North Cotabato’s Emmylou Talino-Mendoza, Surigao del Norte’s Sol Matugas, Surigao del Sur’s Johnny Pimentel, and Zamboganga del Sur’ Antonio Cerilles.

Two incumbents who sought reelection but lost are South Cotabato’s Arthur Pingoy and Zamboanga Sibugay’s Rommel Jalosjos.  Former Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes was reelected South Cotabato governor while Wilter Palma was elected governor of Zamboanga Sibugay.

The seven first-term governors are Davao del Sur’s Claude Bautista, Misamis Oriental’s Yevgeny Emano, Sarangani’s Steven Chiongbian Solon, Sulu’s Abdusakur Tan II, Tawi-tawi’s Nurbert Sahali, Zamboanga del Norte’s Roberto Uy and Zamboanga Sibugay’s Palma.

Six won the gubernatorial post even before Monday’s polls, having run unopposed: Agusan del Norte’s Amane, Compostela Valley’s Uy, Davao del Norte’s del Rosario, Davao Oriental’s Malanyaon and Sarangani’s Solon. (Vanessa Almeda, Carolyn O. Arguillas, Keith Bacongco, Walter Balane, Ferdinandh Cabrera, Roel Catoto, Allen V. Estabillo, Froilan Gallardo, Violeta M. Gloria, Toto Lozano, Malu Manar, Erwin Mascarinas H. Ruby Thursday More, Marcos C. Mordeno, Bong Sarmiento and Bobby Timonera/MindaNews) 

Salazar, who is this city’s two-term first district representative to Congress, made the announcement, emphasizing that she will personally manage the affairs of the city government in the next three years.

Salazar’s statement was in reaction to an election issue that she will merely serve as “puppet” of her predecessor, Mayor Celso Lobregat.

“I would like to make it clear that having been given an overwhelming mandate to serve the people, I will manage the city according to my own conviction,” she declared.

The mayor-elect is a niece of  the feisty anti-Marcos dictatorship mayor,  Cesar Cortes Cimaco,  who was assassinated on November 14, 1984.

Her father, Jose,  was elected vice mayor in 1987.

Salazar, a Liberal Party (LP) stalwart, said she would use her “Malacañang connection” to push the Department of Energy (DoE) to find reliable solution to the worsening power situation hitting this city.

This city experienced eight to nine hours daily rotational brownouts months before Monday’s election and  enjoyed 24-hour electricity from May 11 or two days before the  May 13 polls, until Thursday, May 16.

However,  Sherwin Mañada, acting general manager of Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) , issued a notice on Friday that this city will again experience rotational brownout lasting three to four hours daily.

Salazar  also said she will sit down together with top police as well as military officials in finding a lasting solution to this city’s peace and order problem.

She is not also discounting the possibility of her seeking advice  from her husband, retired Army general Trifonio Salazar , current head of the National Intelligence Coordination Agency, on matters of solving problems on criminality.

Salazar will replace Mayor Celso Lobregat, who is completing his third term and has been elected first district representative, a post he is returning to after his nine-year mayoralty.

Lobregat was representative from 1998 to 2004, after his mother’s 1987 to 1998 stay in Congress. He was supposed to run for a third term in 2004 but substituted for her mother in the mayoralty race in 2004 when the latter died.

Salazar won the mayoralty race by huge margin over her former party mate, second district Rep. Erico Basilio Fabian, garnering 172,439 votes against Fabian’s 29,200 votes.

Both Salazar and Lobregat ran under the Liberal Party-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Adelante Zamboanga Party (LP-LDP-AZaP) coalition while Fabian, a Nacionalista Party (NP) stalwart and on his last term of office, ran under the Fuerza Zamboanga, a locally-organized political party he heads.

Lobregat’s brother Jomar  lost in the congressional race for the second district to independent bet Lillia Nuño. (MindaNews) 

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/19 May)– The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) is the present holding the future of the Moros like the proverbial bird for the hand to crush or to set free. Principles for the drafting of a sound Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) have been agreed. Yet, the Transition Commission (TransCom) is at risk of contending with elements that can have the BBL born with disabilities or aborted. Foremost among these elements are time, money and its fate in the Congress and later in the hands of spoilers.

BTA: Key to Transition

Granted! The Transcom will be able to draft and the Congress to enact a sound BBL as provided in the basic considerations agreed in the FAB. That’s only half the work done. The other half – the more difficult and most critical – is the setting up of the transitional Bangsamoro government and preparing the Moro leaders for the successful take off. A sound BBL can make the transition work; but only with the proper time, financial support and orientation of leaders will it work to empower the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) to entrench the Bangsamoro.

As proposed in the MDA 2011 and seen in the agreements in the FAB and ATAM, the entrenchment of the Bangsamoro will go through two periods – first, the pre-transition period during which the Bangsamoro Basic Law will be drafted, enacted and ratified; second, the transition proper during which preparations will be made according to the BBL for the installation of the regular Bangsamoro government.

As already discussed, the Transcom, the Congress and the Bangsamoro electorate are the key players in the pre-transition period. The only key player in the transition proper is the BTA.

How will BTA accomplish this role? As agreed in ATAM:

First, its function:  The “core function” of BTA is to prepare “for the transition of the ministerial government in the Bangsamoro”, particularly, (1) to “exercise governance functions devolved to the Bangsamoro in accordance with the Basic Law” and (2) to “set up the institutions and mechanisms necessary to establish the Bangsamoro ministerial government [I.F]”. This is elaborated in [II.B.3] and will be spelled out in detail in the BBL, as [II.B.4] implicitly provides.

As elaborated in [II.B.3], “The BTA shall serve as the main mechanism for the MILF’s leadership in the Bangsamoro during the transition process. Once the Basic Law comes into force, and the BTA established, the devolved powers of the new political entity are vested in the government of the Bangsamoro.” This is the beginning of transition proper.

Second, its organization, membership:  “The Bangsamoro Basic Law shall provide for the organization and composition of the BTA. Its members shall be appointed by the President [II.B.1].” And, it “shall be MILF-led [II.B.2]”.

Third, its term: “The BTA shall continue to perform its function as interim Bangsamoro Government until the duly elected officials of the Bangsamoro shall have qualified into office in 2016 [II.B.5].”

Imperatives for BTA

The imperatives for the sound take off of the Bangsamoro are discernible from the second sentence of [III.B.3]: “Once the Basic Law comes into force, and the BTA established, the devolved powers of the new political entity are vested in the government of the Bangsamoro;” and the second sentence of [I.F]: “… set up the institutions and mechanisms necessary to establish the Bangsamoro ministerial government”. Evidently:

• Bangsamoro is the new political entity. Powers are devolved to it. “By whom” and “From whom?” By negotiated agreements between Government and MILF, from the Philippine government as enacted by the Congress.

• The devolved powers are vested in the Bangsamoro government only after the BBL has been ratified and the BTA has been established.

• These powers are provided in the BBL.

• The BTA is the Bangsamoro government in transition to which the devolved powers are first vested for it to set up for the regular government.

• The transition is from the presidential to the ministerial form of government.

As a new political entity, the Bangsamoro is founded on a charter or basic law – the Bangsamoro Basic Law. It is assumed that the BBL will (a) declare the objectives, principles and policies of the Bangsamoro government, (b) define the ministerial form of government and its asymmetric relation with the Central Government, (c) list the powers devolved to Bangsamoro, and (d) set the transition budget committed by Government. These will define the immediate task of the BTA and determine its ability to do this task.

Transition is not an OIC setup wherein officers-in-charge are appointed to run already well-established offices or government units vacated or declared vacant in emergency situations. The OICs are “fillers” serving uncompleted terms of office; unless new rules and instructions are issued governing their functions, they follow the established rules and modalities of the offices or government units concerned.

Transition is a necessary process for change. It is the phasing out of the old to be supplanted by the new; or, the development of the new from the tentative to the permanent. While both will involve new theories and experimental processes, the first may involve only the revision of old systems and norms while the second will mean the establishment of an entirely new order.

The transition of Bangsamoro from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is not a phasing out but the establishing of a new political entity. The BBL will repeal, not just amend, RA 9054; it will abolish the ARMM then create the Bangsamoro. The BTA is not in the mold of an OIC but an interim government created by law with specific mandate in the entrenchment of the Bangsamoro – agreed by Government and MILF which are assumed to be embodied in the BBL Transitory Provisions.

As an interim government, the BTA is ministerial in form having an interim legislature, an interim prime minister as the head of government, and interim ministers to head the different ministries. How the BTA will actually be initially organized and composed will be provided in the BBL and its members “appointed by the President” [ATAM II.B.1].

Primary Mandate

The first task of BTA is to “set up the institutions and mechanisms necessary to establish the Bangsamoro ministerial government” and with these govern Bangsamoro in transition [ATAM I.F]. What these institutions and mechanisms and their modalities are and how to set them up will be provided in the BBL – the only guide is the BTA.

FAB VII.9, “… The Bangsamoro Transition Authority may reorganize the bureaucracy into institutions of governance appropriate thereto (referring to the “ministerial form and cabinet system of government)”, hints what might be done.

This is the primary mandate of the BTA — to set up these institutions and mechanisms right and to govern well the Bangsamoro in transition according to the objectives, principles and policies and asymmetrical relation with the Central Government written in the BBL. This is an assurance that the Bangsamoro, when the regular government takes over, is well founded and best prepared to solve the Bangsamoro problem. The task is demanding and daunting. This transition is the one that will work.

Inherent Imperatives

Expected to compound the difficulty of the task are imperatives inherent in establishing an entirely new entity. In the case of Bangsamoro, these can be among the imperatives:

First, BBL will provide for the institutions with their mechanisms and modalities suitable to the ministerial government. For the BTA to set them up, make them operational and operate them in the interim will demand time, money and expertise.

Second, it is to be expected that the BTA members and key officials will need proper on-the-job orientation and training regarding their functions in running the ministerial government.  This will demand time, money and advisers – most probably foreign.

Third, the offices under the ministries may be restructured and their personnel have to be reoriented. These will demand time, money and expertise.

Fourth, subject to provisions in the BBL according to [ATAM II.B.4] the Bangsamoro local government constituent units, if not restructured, have to be reoriented to the ministerial form of government together with their officials. This will demand time, at least, and money and expertise, at the most.

Time: Definitive Element

Government as well as some sympathetic aid agencies will be able to provide the funds for the transition.  Foreign countries with parliamentary system and ministerial form of government will surely provide the expertise needed to assist the BTA, if requested. But they cannot provide time; they cannot restore lost time. Time will, as ever, run its course mindless of what men and nations do.

Time is the definitive element during the transition period of the Bangsamoro. How will it determine whether the transition will make the Bangsamoro the political entity MILF has envisioned? The longer the time and the better used, the better transition will work. The lesser the time and the more poorly used, the more the transition that will work will be imperiled.

As it has already been discussed, the failure of the Parties to sign the three remaining Annexes during their 37^th exploratory talks last month had already set back the time table of the TransCom by four months. Even if the negotiation on the Annexes can be finished this month, the Transcom can start drafting the BBL only in July; June will be for the consolidation of the Annexes and the FAB into the Comprehensive Agreement.

The delay will mean a six-month time lag in the FAB roadmap and just three years for the pre-transition and the transition proper. Granting that drafting, enacting and ratifying the BBL will be done – with due diligence under rigid deliberation, not under undue pressure in haste — in 18 months or one-and-a-half years, that will leave 18 months, not two years, for the transition proper.

What if the Transcom and the Congress will need more time to do their respective tasks? No time limit has been set for them to do these. Should such a need arise, the transition proper has to be sacrificed since the BTA cannot exist beyond June 2016 — after the election and qualification of the regular Bangsamoro officials [ATAM II.B.5]; or, more precisely, after “the election and assumption of the members of the Bangsamoro legislative assembly and the formation of the Bangsamoro government [FAB VII.10]”. 

Vital Questions

Will 18 months be enough for the BTA to do its primary mandate while coping with the imperatives for the transition that will work? Will it? What if the transition proper is shortened to one year or, worse, to less?

The lack of time due to time lost in the delay in agreeing on the Annexes and the possibility of more unforeseen delays during the pre-transition period will imperil the transition that will work.

In retrospect, the 7-year transition – one year pre-interim, six years interim – proposed in the MILF MDA 2011 was most ideal. When MILF Chairman Murad Ibrahim agreed to lower to three years the transition period (MindaNews, July 10, 2012), he and the MILF Central Committee must have decided that the transition that will work is manageable in three years. It is interesting to ask Murad, the Central Committee or the MILF Panel about the present realities and the possibility of a one-year or shorter transition proper.

Unless an unforeseen event or situation intervenes, the Bangsamoro will replace the ARMM by June 30, 2016. President Aquino on stepping down will point to it as one of his legacies. Will it solve the Bangsamoro problem? That will be a puzzle. For MILF the task to make it work will just begin. Bangsamoro has to succeed. Should it fail, Aquino, the succeeding presidents and Manila leaders will wash their hands: We gave you the rope to scale the wall barring your way; you used it to hang yourselves.

Will the Government and MILF Panels seal the Annexes during their 38^th Exploratory this month? That will stop the present time hemorrhage. Will more bleeding be avoided to prevent the sapping of life out of the transition? As the saying goes, “Time is of the essence.” The essentialness of time on the imperatives of the transition that will work should not be taken for granted.

(To Be Concluded: IV. Post Script)

(“Comment” is Mr. Patricio P. Diaz’ column for MindaViews, the opinion section of MindaNews. The Titus Brandsma Media Awards honored Mr. Diaz with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his “commitment to education and public information to Mindanawons as Journalist, Educator and Peace Advocate.” You can reach him at patpdiazgsc@yahoo.com.)

manguli atol sa fiesta
daghan regalo dala
lipay mga paryente’ng
wala’y kuwarta
sa balay mag-linya

reunion dinhi, reunion didto
sadya lagi kaayo

mga pagkaong paborito
ilog-ilogan kay wala man didto

ang kainit halos dili maantos
maligo kaduha, magdala og paypay pa
hala bira!

mag-enjoy gyud mala-mala
uban pamilya ug barkada
salamat balikbayan

kita-kits next time.

(Ang MindaViews ang seksyon sa opinion sa MindaNews. Si Ramon Jorge B. Sarabosing manunulat ug visual artist sa  dakbayan sa Butuan) 

Hers was a political fight maybe likened to the biblical battle between David and Goliath, where the “small unknown fighter” toppled down his giant enemy using a sling.

Bag-ao, concurrent caretaker representative of Dinagat Islands, won the congressional race against Gwendolyn Ecleo, the youngest daughter of Ruben Ecleo Sr., founder of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), with a margin of 3,246 votes.

She got 25,615 votes against Ecleo’s 22,369.

Bag-ao’s total number of votes was actually higher than PBMA’s “default leader” and matriarch, Gov. Glenda “Mommy Glen” Ecleo, who garnered 23,385 votes. The Ecleos ran under the Nacionalista Party.

Ecleo defeated her daughter Geraldine “Jade” Ecleo in the gubernatorial race. She is on to her second term for Dinagat province that was created in 2006.

Geraldine teamed up with Bag-ao under the Liberal Party in going against her own family who has ruled Dinagat Islands for four decades.

“I think it is also good that Jade is an insider. She has the integrity to talk about her family because she is part of the family,” Bag-ao earlier said in response to a query that Geraldine is still an Ecleo and she, Geraldine, would be conflicting her position against political dynasties.

Bag-ao has become the anathema in rallies involving the PBMA, a group largely considered a cult. The “Orange Team” of the Ecleos during the campaign period maligned her as a “thief, whore and bag-ang (molar teeth).”

In her speeches witnessed by MindaNews five days before Monday’s election, Bag-ao said she knew about the personal attacks and character assassination “but I cannot be angry, I really am not angry because in the first place, there is no truth to it.”

Dubbed as the “Team Yellow,” Bag-ao said she leaves it to Geraldine to respond to the mudslinging hurled by the Ecleo camp against her (Bag-ao) during the campaign period.

At the height of their miting de avance, a supporter of the Ecleo camp, identified as Ric Cabral, took the stage and fiercely attacked Bag-ao’s character for about an hour.

But the attacks apparently did not deter voters to choose Bag-ao.

A head teacher from Libjo, where Bag-ao slightly edged Ecleo (3,630 and 3,596 votes, respectively), said that Bag-ao won because she “did something in so short a time” contrary to the decades-old rule of the Ecleos where basic services were reportedly poor or at worst dismal.

Libjo is considered a bailiwick of the Ecleos.

The teacher, who only identified herself as “Mel,” said she voted for Bag-ao “like most teachers she knew” because the activist-lawmaker gave a clear platform to address the nagging poverty in the province.

In an earlier interview, Bag-ao said that through the P137.4 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel fund released last December, more than a month after she assumed as caretaker representative of Dinagat Islands in October 2012, P5 million was infused to the Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City for the immediate medical assistance of Dinagat residents.

Three thousand scholars were enrolled at the Surigao del Norte State University (SDNSU) and other schools while road and bridge constructions connecting the towns of San Jose and Loreto are ongoing, she said.

The PDAF was also used to purchase six 4×4 utility vehicles worth P1.5 million each, which include a Mitsubishi Montero, Toyota Hilux and Fortuner sports utility vehicles.

She used the PDAF to also purchase 77 units of multi-cab patrol vehicles costing P275,00 each, which were distributed to various barangays in the district.

The PDAF release was criticized as a “political patronage” since Bag-ao, an Akbayan partylist representative whose party mates are also holding key positions in national government, could use this to her advantage.

The Ecleos saw that as her biggest advantage against them.

San Jose town Mayor Alan II Ecleo said in an interview on Tuesday, after the proclamation of her mother Glenda and brother Benglen as governor and vice governor, respectively, that Bag-ao’s edge was her “wide network.”

“Well she is the incumbent (caretaker of the legislative district) and she has a wide network at her disposal,” Allan II said.

Benglen also earlier voiced similar criticisms through Facebook, that Bag-ao is using the “money of his brother,“ the dismissed lawmaker and PBMA Supreme Master Ruben Ecleo Jr., who was convicted for murder and graft charges, for her political interest.

‘Bloc vote’

Dinagat, which is synonymous to the Ecleos and the PBMA, is considered the biggest source for “bloc voting” in past electoral exercises in Surigao del Norte.

Before its separation from the mother province in 2006, politicians raring to win the elections covet the PBMA vote.

The bloc vote of the PBMA, estimated at 63,000, could easily sway the results in favor of whoever gets the blessing of the Ecleos.

But the recent elections, however, showed a different scenario, “swaying away” from the so-called “one voice, one leader” bloc voting of the PBMA.

Alleged vote buying on the part of the Ecleos took place in some towns that ironically are identified as Ecleo bailiwicks: San Jose, Dinagat, Cagdianao and Libjo.

In Libjo, Bag-ao posted a slim margin of 34 votes over Gwendolyn Ecleo, at 3,630 and 3,506, respectively.

Geraldine Ecleo, who ran and lost against her mother Glenda in the gubernatorial position, alleged that her mother’s camp spent millions of pesos to buy votes, ranging from P500 to P2,000 per voter.

“I worry because how will they get the money back,” she said.

Fr. Almario Ramada, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) chair in Surigao del Norte, said on Tuesday they received reports of vote buying in Dinagat town allegedly by the Ecleo camp.

On the other hand, the Ecleo camp, through Benglen, accused Bag-ao’s camp of resorting to harassment and violence against PBMA members in the town of Loreto to ensure a wide margin.

Loreto is Bag-ao’s hometown. She won there and also in the municipalities of Libjon and Tubajon.

In the four other towns considered strongholds of the Ecleos, Bag-ao mustered enough votes to win the congressional race. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Vincent Baguio, Cotelco spokesman, blamed the tripping off of the 69-kilovolt transmission line, located at their substation in Barangay Paco, for the first long brownout.

The power interruption affected Kidapawan City and the towns of Makilala, Magpet, Antipas, Arakan, President Roxas, Matalam, Kabacan, Tulunan, and M’lang.

Power supply was restored at around 1 a.m. Friday, Baguio said.

But North Cotabato again experienced brownouts from 530 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Baguio said they immediately dispatched their linemen to check out the problem.

“I admit it took us too long to determine what caused the brownout in our service areas. We had to check every electric pole,” he said.

“Hours later, we found out that some of the insulators of some of the electric poles had malfunctioned and we have to replace them with new ones,” Baguio added.

To supply power to North Cotabato, Baguio said they tapped from the 69-kV transmission line of the Tacurong City substation.

The distribution utility, however, failed to supply its entire service area due to low voltage.

“Because we experienced low voltage, we had to cut off power in some of our service areas. We believe what happened last Friday hurt our consumers and the business community, but we humbly ask sorry for the inconveniences it brought to them,” Baguio said.

Indeed the long unexpected brownouts had the business community and many consumers fuming mad.

Vicky Guboc, owner of Touch That Cares Beauty Studio, said they had no income for the day due to the brownout.

The parlor has no standby generator set, said Guboc.

Ritchie Joy Mamburao-Gapasin, owner of ChinaGap Events and Concepts, said the long brownouts are “slowly killing” businesses in the city.

“Despite the brownouts, our electric bills have soared,” she complained. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)

In a radio interview Saturday, Piñol alleged that the 95 percent voters’ turnout from the two towns was “highly improbable.”

Based on Commission on Elections (Comelec) results, Mendoza garnered 53,870 votes in these towns, while Piñol only got 7,134.

The PBOC, however, dismissed the petition of Piñol.

“I already expected that the PBOC will dismiss my petition outright. That’s the reason why I am planning to submit the petition at the Comelec head office in Manila anytime today (Saturday),” he stressed.

Pikit and Carmen are considered Mendoza’s bailiwicks. Mendoza’s father, Roger Taliño, is mayor of Carmen.

In the 2010 gubernatorial race where Mendoza and Piñol were pitted against each other for the first time, Mendoza got 236,966 votes against Piñol’s 199,332

In Carmen town, Mendoza garnered 22,749 votes against Piñol’s 610 during Monday’s elections.

In Pikit, Mendoza got 31,121 votes while Pinol received 6,524 votes.

“The results in Pikit and Carmen, although overwhelming, were highly improbable. This is the result of my opponent’s use of rice and money, coupled with terrorism, just to win this election,” he said.

Mendoza earlier denied Pinol’s allegations, saying she won “fair and square.”

“That was the product of transparency in the government, better infrastructure projects for the people or good governance as a whole,” she said.

Mendoza got the endorsement of the “bloc voting” Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) as well as the support of the Solidarity Vote Movement of the Catholic Laity in North Cotabato.

The INC reportedly has 20,000 members across the province.

Mendoza said “she would abide with whatever decision the Comelec will render on the protest of Piñol.”

The PBOC has yet to proclaim the winners in the provincial level due to the delay in the transmission of election results in some towns and technical problems with the precinct count optical scan machines. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)

 III. What Will Work (Continued 1: Past and Present)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/18 May)– Some shreds of the past show how Government and successive Presidents have handled the Moro Problem and Muslim demands. MILF has keenly seen them.

Looking Back

With reference to the 37-year Government-Moro Front peace negotiations, the MILF demand for a Moro autonomous government outside of the Philippine unitary system has been the Moro demand dating back to the GRP-MNLF Tripoli Agreement of 1976.  Yet, while heeding the 1976 TA, President Ferdinand E. Marcos (PD 1618), President Corazon C. Aquino (RA 6734) and President Fidel V. Ramos (RA 9054) established Muslim autonomous governments under the unitary system with Muslim cooperation.

It was agreed in the 1976 TA that:

(1) “The Muslims shall have their own administrative system.… [III.5].” This implied the rejection of the unitary system and the adoption of another system.

(2) “Foreign Policy shall be of the competence of the Central Government of the Philippines…. [III.1]”; (3) “The National Defense Affairs shall be the concern of the Central Authority… [III.2]”; (4) “The authorities of the autonomy … shall have their own economic and financial system …. [III.6].” These implied power- and wealth-sharing.

(5) “A Legislative Assembly and an Executive Council shall be formed in the area of Autonomy for the Muslims” [III.9], providing further that the Assembly, which will appoint the Council, shall be directly elected. This is a feature of the parliamentary system and ministerial form of government.

All the above were agreements in principle. As agreed [III.11], these together with other provisions [III. 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10] were discussed in detail by the Mixed GRP-MNLF Committee in Tripoli, Libya from February 5 to March 3, 1977. The issues were too contentious for the Mixed Committee to agree in details – breaking up without any final agreement. Subsequent meetings could not break the impasse’.

Three Presidents established Autonomy for the Muslims:

Taking “the necessary constitutional processes” provided in the TA [III.16], President Marcos set up two autonomies for the Muslims – Regional Autonomous Governments IX and XII. Each RAG had an elected Legislative Assembly which nominated the members of the Executive Council for appointment by the President. Under PD 1618, both RAGs were parts of the unitary system – their powers and funds under the control of Malacanang.

President Corazon C. Aquino had Regional Autonomous Governments for the Muslims and Cordilleras enshrined in the 1987 Constitution adopting essential ideas from some provisions of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement and PD 1618. The ARMM was created under Article X.15-21 of the 1987 Constitution. The autonomy under RA 6734 was broader than that under PD 1618; still, the ARMM was part of the unitary system and, like the RAGS, its powers and funds were under the control of Malacanang and the Congress.

President Ramos concluded the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (also known as Jakarta Accord) with MNLF – purportedly, the full implementation of the 1976 TA. The FPA was virtually the rehash of RA 6734 except for provisions by which MNLF leaders could claim the FPA as granting “genuine”, “meaningful”, etc. autonomy. After the FPA had been enacted into RA 9054 amending RA 6734, MNLF leaders rued that RA 9054 offered less autonomy than RA 6734, still tying the ARMM to the unitary system.

Oddly, Chairman Nur Misuari, who headed the MNLF peace panel, did not aggressively pursue the 1976 TA provisions meant to give the Muslims their own “administrative” and “economic and financial” systems under a parliamentary system of government. [NOTE: Compare III.A.21 to 62 of the 1996 FPA with III.5,6,9 of the 1976 TA and with parallel or similar provisions in RA 6734.] And he did not defend the few provisions in the FPA intended for these ends that the Congress deleted or revised while amending RA 6734.

Lured by “power” and “promises” of funds, Misuari accepted the ARMM governorship and the chairmanship of a “semblance” of a “transitional government” while awaiting the amendment of RA 6734 law to expand and reform the ARMM according to the FPA. In reality, Misuari and his leaders fell into a scheme keeping the ARMM as still the Muslim autonomy within the unitary system under the control of Malacanang and the Congress.

Seeing the Present

MILF saw the scheme. In its 11 years of negotiation with Government – from 1997 with Ramos culminating in the MOA-AD under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2008 – it adhered essentially, wittingly or unwittingly, to III.5,6,9 of the 1976 TA. Under Arroyo, before the MOA-AD and after its collapse, MILF rejected repeated Government offers of an enhanced ARMM as a political settlement.

Under Aquino III, MILF fended off the offer of a reformed ARMM through the “3 for 1 Proposal” as the political settlement; in the FAB, it negotiated Bangsamoro to have a ministerial form of government with asymmetric relation to the Central Government that, as a necessary consequence, will likely be outside the unitary system. How these features will turn out will soon be seen in the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The Tripoli Agreement of 1976 and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement together with the varying Muslim autonomous governments established under them are the “shreds of the past”. They show how Government has accommodated Muslim demands within the status quo under the Constitution – 1972 and 1987; how Muslim leaders have been co-opted to cooperate only to bemoan seeing the Moros still chained to their status quo.

The FAB is the present holding the future of the Moros like the proverbial bird for the hand to crush or to set free. Principles for the drafting of a sound Bangsamoro Basic Law have been agreed. Yet, the Transcom is at risk of contending with elements that can have the BBL born with disabilities or aborted. Foremost among these elements are time, money and its fate in the Congress and later in the hands of spoilers.

(To Be Continued: Key to Transition)

(“Comment” is Mr. Patricio P. Diaz’ column for MindaViews, the opinion section of MindaNews. The Titus Brandsma Media Awards honored Mr. Diaz with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his “commitment to education and public information to Mindanawons as Journalist, Educator and Peace Advocate.” You can reach him at patpdiazgsc@yahoo.com.)

mga batch-mates nagkita-kita
nagtapok-tapok, nangatawa
wala’y undang ang kumbira
kada adlaw daw fiesta

sikat ang mga balikbayan
pirme’ng tapokan
ambot unsa’y hinungdan
hinaut dili utangan

pero wala ju’y makapilde sa Bol-anon
manguli, wala’y makapugong

bisan ang barko puwerti’ng punoa
intawon hapit na motiglom

ing-ini gyud ‘ning mga KMU
(dili Kilusang Mayo Uno)
Ora mismo, abtik mga amigo

Kada Mayo, Uli!

1Lt Joe Patrick Martinez, head of the civil military office of the 42nd Infantry Battalion (IB), said the soldier from the 30th IB, whom he did not identify, was killed Thursday.

Elements of the 30th IB encountered around 15 NPA members in Pamyunon, Barangay Sapa in Claver town, he said.

At around 1:30 p.m. Friday, Martinez said that troops from the 42nd Division Reconnaissance Company caught up with the fleeing rebels in Barangay Cabugo, resulting in a 30-minute exchange of gunfire.

He said that two NPA rebels were killed in the encounter, with several more believed wounded.

Martinez claimed that soldiers saw the retreating NPA rebels carry their wounded comrades, “leaving behind trails of blood.”

Troops recovered from the scene of the encounter an M-16 and AK-47 automatic rifles, he said.

The rebels supposedly belong to the NPA Guerilla Front 16 of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee, according to Martinez.

Insp Renato Acelo, Claver municipal police chief, confirmed in a phone interview that soldiers killed two NPA rebels during the encounter.

“We’ve brought the body of the two slain NPAs to a funeral home in the neighboring town of Bacuag since we don’t have any funeral facility in Claver,” he said.

The fingerprints of the fatalities were taken to help in identifying them, Acelo said.

Acelo said they beefed up security by placing checkpoints in strategic locations of the town.

The municipal police chief said the encounter site “has been a regular staging area for NPA activity.”

He added the area is mountainous and about 10 kilometers away from the center of the town. (Erwin Mascarinas/MindaNews)

The 71-year old Zubiri, incumbent vice governor, obtained 347,338 votes against Lynard Allan Bigcas’ 47,314.

The 63-year old Calingasan, incumbent governor, won with 241,553 votes over board member Nemesio Beltran Jr., who got 73,891 votes.

The tandem repeated their feat in 2001 when both run for the same position—Zubiri as governor and Calingasan as vice governor— and served until 2010.

In 2010, they swapped positions, and swapped again in the 2013 elections.

Only Calingasan attended the proclamation. Zubiri was reported to have left for Manila Wednesday.

The proclamation took place even without the results from Malaybalay City, which was delayed due to defective PCOS machines and CF cards in a precinct each in three of the city’s 46 barangays.

Lawyer Carlito Ravelo, provincial election supervisor, said the results from Malaybalay City, even if counted, would not affect the standing in the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial races.

Ravelo said that lawyer Gina Luna Zayas-Sabio, Malaybalay election officer, informed him that they will complete the canvassing Friday night.

Of the province’s 20 towns and two cities, only Malaybalay has yet to transmit the results as of 6 p.m. Friday.

The PBOC also proclaimed Bukidnon third district representative-elect Jose Ma. F. Zubiri III, who was a no-show. He is a son of governor-elect Zubiri.

Also proclaimed Friday afternoon were the board members-elect for the third district: Gordon Torres with 87,071 votes; Alfeo Baguio with 65,528; and Marivic Montesclaros with 62,841.

Proclamations were stalled Wednesday due to defective CF cards, causing delays in the canvassing of votes from the towns of Damulog, Manolo Fortich, Talakag, Maramag, Cabanglasan, Malaybalay City and Valencia City.

Ravelo blamed the delay in the arrival of replacement CF cards to the stalled canvassing.

The winners in the first and fourth districts for the Sangguniang Panlalawigan were the first to be proclaimed late Thursday night.

The opposition party’s lawyers did not question the partial but official results used as basis in the proclamation of Zubiri and Calingasan, even if a protest by a group led by Bigcas and defeated Malaybalay mayoralty bet Estelito Marabe was held in the other side of the Capitol Grounds Friday morning.

Alleging irregularities, the group sought a manual count of votes because of questionable PCOS machines.

Zubiri’s election for another term makes him the longest serving governor in the post-EDSA revolution history of Bukidnon.

He has surpassed Carlos Fortich, who was elected governor in 1992, 1995 and 1998. Fortich’s last term, however, was cut short because he resigned to run for Valencia City mayor, only to be defeated by former police chief Jose Galario Jr.

Galario won the Valencia City mayoralty race on Monday’s elections.

Reelectionist Mayor Ignacio Zubiri, nephew of governor-elect Zubiri, won a fresh term in Malaybalay City. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)

Rep. Yevgeny Vicente “Bambi” Emano was proclaimed the winner of the gubernatorial race in Misamis Oriental.

The Commission on Elections said Emano got 190,986 votes compared to his rival, Vice Governor Norris Babiera, who garnered only 170,321 votes.

Bambi Emano is the son of Cagayan de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano.

His victory is the only redeeming factor in the political dynasty whose dominance in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental started three decades ago, when the Emano patriarch was then elected town mayor in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

The elder Emano, known for his political astuteness, was defeated by Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno during Monday’s hotly contested mayoral race in Cagayan de Oro.

The elder Emano has still his daughter Nadya Emano and her husband, President Elipe, in the Cagayan de Oro City council after winning last Monday’s elections.

“The seed that my father had planted in Misamis Oriental will continue to grow. I promised to continue his legacy,” Bambi told supporters who trooped to the Misamis Oriental provincial capitol where he was proclaimed last Thursday afternoon.

Bambi also promised to “clean” the bureaucracy at the provincial government.

For his part, the elder Emano said that despite his defeat, he was happy to see his son winning the gubernatorial post, which he held for three consecutive terms during the 90s.

“I am assured that Bambi will continue to serve the people of Misamis Oriental,” he told their supporters.

Bambi’s running mate, Joey Pelaez, was also proclaimed the winner in the vice gubernatorial race.

Incumbent Rep. Pedro Unabia was reelected for a third term in the first congressional district, beating Clyde Abbot with a margin of at least 80,000 votes.

Villanueva town mayor Juliet Uy won over former Rep. Jun Baculio in the second congressional district. Uy garnered 50,750 votes against Baculio’s 40,905 votes. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/17 May)– As defined in Part I, “transition” specifically refers to the period of establishing the government institutions, mechanism and modalities for the entrenchment of the Bangsamoro as provided in the FAB. The period begins “from the abolition of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao” and ends with “the inauguration of Bangsamoro on or before June 30, 2016 under the ministerial government formed by the first Bangsamoro Legislative Assembly”.

Bangsamoro must have the transition that will work – meaning one that is not merely transferring Muslim autonomy from the ARMM to Bangsamoro but preparing to make Bangsamoro the political entity that will solve the Bangsamoro Problem.

Such transition calls for, first, a sound organic law or charter – the Basic Bangsamoro Law; second, the time and resources necessary to enable the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to establish sound governmental institutions and to make their mechanics and modalities gel; and, third, the proper orientation of the Moro leaders for leadership in government and in the civil service called for under the new order.

Sound Organic Law

As a historical landmark in the Government-Moro Islamic Liberation Front 16-year peace negotiation, the FAB is the agreement on “How to Solve the Bangsamoro Problem”, the only talking point MILF proposed on February 25, 1997. Basically, most of the FAB provisions are from the consensuses in the MOA-AD as reframed in MILF Draft Agreement 2011; significantly, they reflect the Third Part, Paragraphs 1 to 9 of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, particularly 5, 6 and 9.

Basic considerations for the drafting and enactment of the BBL are provided in the GRP-MILF Decision Points on Principles (DPP), signed April 24, 2012 — finalized in the FAB, initialed on October 12 and signed on October 15, 2012. Provisions on transition are spelled out specifically in Executive Order No. 120 issued on December 17, 2012 and in Annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities (ATAM), signed on February 27, 2013, one of the four annexes which are integral parts of the FAB.

The basic considerations are:

First:  When the Parties agreed that (1) the status quo is unacceptable [FAB, I.1; DPP, 2]; (2) the Bangsamoro government is ministerial in form to be elected under a suitable electoral system [FAB, I.2; DPP, 4]; (3) the relation between Bangsamoro and Central Government is asymmetric [FAB, 1.4]; and, (4) there shall be power- and wealth-sharing between them [FAB, III, IV with Annexes; DPP, 6 and 7], they defined the autonomy that Bangsamoro will have. The four provisions are complementary.

Second: (5) The recognition of the Bangsamoro (Moro people) identity [FAB, I.6; DPP, 1]; (6) the territory and constituent units of Bangsamoro [FAB, I.3, V]; (7) Basic rights [FAB, VI; DPP, 10] notably the “legitimate grievances of the Bangsamoro people arising from any unjust dispossession” [FAB, VI.2]; (8) normalization [FAB, VIII with Annex].

Third: (9) The Basic Law and its four features [FAB, II.1 to 4].

There are potential conflicts.

Incidentally, however, the agreement in principles may cause some frictions during the drafting and enacting of the Basic Bangsamoro Law. That “The Bangsamoro shall be governed by a Basic Law [FAB, II.1)” is a given; and so is the drafting and ratification of the Basic Law (FAB, II.4]. But how the agreements under the “First” and “Second” basic considerations itemized above will be drafted into the Basic Law [FAB, II. 3 and 4] and enacted by the Congress is the question.

The four “first basic considerations” are the foundation of Bangsamoro as a political entity; of these four, “unacceptable status quo” is the defining point. Hence, how the Parties agree on its exact meaning is most essential and definitive.

From the statements of the Parties, what is unacceptable to MILF is the unitary system of government in the Philippines from which they are opting out since, as they perceive it as one of the roots of the injustices historically suffered by the Moros, they believe it will not work to put Bangsamoro under that system and is advisable to adopt for it another system. To Government on the other hand, the status quo refers to the ARMM as “the failed experiment” that must be changed as the foundation of Bangsamoro.

The four “second basic consideration” ask for what the MILF believes the Moros are entitled to. However, these were virtually the same entitlements that caused the MOA-AD controversy – deemed by some Christian leaders as conflicting with the rights of the Christian majority in the area. Like the “unacceptable status quo” the “entitlement of the Moros to certain rights” is potentially contentious.

Opting out of the unitary system, MILF proposed and Government agreed that the Moro political entity finally named in the FAB as the Bangsamoro shall be ministerial in form with asymmetric relation to the Central Government. Power-sharing and wealth-sharing are necessary to the ministerial form of government and to its asymmetric relation with the Central Government.

This has alarmed some national leaders and thinkers particularly the constitutionalists since they believe this will need the amendment of the Constitution. But the Philippine peace panel members especially its first chairman, now Justice Mario Victor “Marvic” Leonen, allayed the fears assuring all that the agreement is well within the Constitution – the government will not sign an agreement contrary to the Constitution.

At this point, it can only be asked: “In agreeing, does Government think and believe that the asymmetric Bangsamoro ministerial government can be established under the unitary system within Article X, Sections 15 to 21 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution with minimal amendments if necessary and that reforming the ARMM in partnership with MILF will suffice to solve the Bangsamoro Problem?”

Was this what Leonen meant when he talked about “thinking outside the box” within the Constitution? Is the Aquino III government riding two bancas — accommodating some patently “unconstitutional” demands of MILF without departing from the Constitution and the unitary system of government like the governments under past presidents?

(To be continued:  Past and Present)

(“Comment” is Mr. Patricio P. Diaz’ column for MindaViews, the opinion section of MindaNews. The Titus Brandsma Media Awards honored Mr. Diaz with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his “commitment to education and public information to Mindanawons as Journalist, Educator and Peace Advocate.” You can reach him at patpdiazgsc@yahoo.com.)

The AADMER was signed by 10 ASEAN countries in 2005 and was ratified and implemented since 2009. Its work program runs from 2010 to 2015.

In an interview, I asked Director Vilarphong Sisomvang why after two years of implementation, it was only this year that they conducted an orientation on the AADMER.

He said the stakeholders, including sectors from the government and civil society, need to understand deeper the AADMER and the national disaster management plan of Lao PDR.

He explained that if they understand the country’s needs and priorities for disaster management, then they can effectively support the implementation.

Disasters in Laos are mainly flood and drought, he said, adding that the government’s priorities include the integration of a disaster management plan into the national development agenda.

He cited that, for one, the education sector in Laos has integrated disaster risk reduction in the curriculum of primary and secondary education.

Raising people’s awareness on disaster risk reduction is a basic step in empowering them to become more responsive and resilient in times of disasters.

But it is important to note that it needs more than just awareness and understanding to prevent the loss of lives and properties during natural disasters.

PH experience

For some areas in the Philippines, awareness and understanding seem not enough to reduce risks during calamities, despite having disaster management plans and geo-hazard maps.

Typhoon Pablo (international name Bopha) hit the Davao Region in Mindanao last December. It affected 6.2 million people, with at least 1,000 people dead and hundreds still missing.

A Typhoon Pablo survivor in Cateel town, a coastal area in Davao Oriental province, said he did not listen to warnings that a big storm was coming.

In the dawn of December 4, the day when the typhoon made landfall in the region, he saw the waves rise to extraordinary heights. It was only at the time that he and his family evacuated to a nearby area that they thought was safe.

He said even if they had received weather advisories, the town people did not expect that a strong typhoon would hit their areas, as they had not experienced storms in decades.

They feared more the (economic) havoc that might be caused by leaving their farms or fishing boats than the real havoc that the super typhoon would bring to their lives.

Last January, heavy rains flooded the southern parts of the Philippines, particularly in Davao City and nearby towns. It affected a total of 125,000 people, including over 15,000 families from Davao City, and reportedly left six people dead and four missing.

The city planning and development office chief, Robert Alabado III, earlier said the city is prepared for flooding but the frequency of flooding cannot be predicted.

He advised the residents to build their houses at least two-stories high. But it is only a temporary reduction of risks, he said, adding that the best thing for them to do is to avoid building their houses in flood-prone areas.

The city government already planned to relocate informal settlers by the riverbanks. But the lack of funds and areas for relocation where job opportunities are also available seem to make the plan elusive.

The settlers had been told several times that they are living in hazardous areas. But they did not give up their homes because these are near their sources of livelihood.

The people have been made aware of the risks they will face in times of disasters. They understand the impacts and the need for them to act and cooperate for their own welfare.

What else needs to be done for the people, especially the vulnerable sectors, to be more responsive and self-reliant in reducing the risk of disasters?

Community-based approach

The AADMER emphasizes community-based disaster risk reduction for promoting resilience among sectoral groups alongside “the respect for rights and sustainable development.”

Mr Vilarphong said one of Laos’ priorities is to promote and implement community-based disaster risk management. It involves local capacity building and better understanding of the risks and hazards, and appropriate measures in coping with disaster at the community level.

Community-based approach has been “the mechanism for change within civil society” in the Philippines, according to the book Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction, edited by Rajib Shaw and published in 2012.

The new disaster management law of the Philippines in 2010 adopted the community-based disaster risk reduction as a model.

The law provides the creation of the National Risk Reduction and Management Council, formerly the National Disaster Coordinating Council. It has local formations in the regional, provincial, city, municipal and barangay (village) levels.

In Davao, the city disaster risk reduction and management council facilitated emergency response trainings to disaster risk reduction groups in every village. The council also provided education on climate change mitigation to community members.

Laws are already in place. Advanced technologies have been utilized such as providing computerized flood simulations based on updated geo-hazard maps.

Before the midterm elections last May 13, the city council in Davao drafted a law combining disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Whether or not the new set of legislators will approve the bill, they need to look more closely on how to empower the people, especially the farmers and urban poor, in protecting themselves from disasters while upholding their economic rights and welfare.

Lao PDR’s priorities to integrate the disaster management plan into the country’s development agenda will not only help raise people’s awareness. It will also motivate them to actively participate in the coming up of disaster risk reduction measures.

The city government of Davao had also integrated disaster risk reduction and management measures in its comprehensive development plan for 2012-2021.

Alabado said the people, especially the urban poor, have their own risk assessment, which is definitely based on their economic needs.

He noted that taking a person away from his source of income even just for a week can cause him or her to die of hunger, which poses more risk “than flooding or typhoon that happens only once in 10 years.”

(Lorie Ann Cascaro of MindaNews is one of the fellows of the FK Norway (Fredskorpset) exchange program in partnership with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists. She’s currently in Laos and hosted by the Vientiane Times.)

“There will be no protest. I have to accept it because I know wala naman dayaan (there’s no cheating),”the younger Ecleo told MindaNews hours after the proclamation of her mother.

The mother beat the daughter by a slim margin of 625 votes.

“It’s the princess and the queen who competed, and the princess had lost. But that is okay, I am still a princess,” Ecleo said.

Ecleo, considered the more “charismatic” of the Ecleo siblings, would continue to support congresswomen-elect Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao, who defeated Gwendolyn Ecleo, the youngest of the Ecleo children with Glenda or “Mommy Glen.”

Baga-o and Geraldine Ecleo ran under the ruling Liberal Party.

“I will not leave her during the rest of her term. I will be her project coordinator for Dinagat,” Ecleo said.

She said she will also continue her programs under the Jade Ecleo Foundation, which provides scholarships for poor but deserving students in Dinagat Islands.

“I still have a lot of things to do for the Dinagatnons and my vision for them and the province will continue (while leading a civilian life), ” Ecleo said.

Strained family relationship

The crack in family relations started when Geraldine ran for vice governor in 2010 without the support of her family.

Allan I, the mayor of Basilisa in his speech during the miting de avance of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), related that her sister also got hurt when the family decided not to support her bid for governor.

The PBMA, a sect founded by family patriarch Ruben Ecleo Sr. in 1965, was said to practice “bloc voting” during elections.

Allan I said he and Geraldine talked on the phone before the filing of candidacy to convince her to run for the congressional seat, which the latter refused.

Geraldine’s decision to run against her mother further caused the rift in the family.

She said her running against her mother was propelled by a “deep reason to spare her from the stress of work due to the latter’s health condition and age.

“Mommy Glen” underwent a triple heart by-pass operation a few years ago, Geraldine noted.

Geraldine insisted that she fought her mother in the gubernatorial race “to safeguard her.”

“How can a daughter allow her mother to go through this situation? I am only thinking of her condition,” she said.

“Now that she is still governor, she cannot go out and visit far flung areas because it will be difficult for her,” Geraldine noted.

But the daughter said she “was thankful that she did not win because I don’t think I can handle the thought that my mother will die if she will lose, which she will if I won. I don’t want to be the cause of my mother’s death.”

She said she will not be running again against her mother in future elections.

But if Gwendolyn will run, I will run against her, Geraldine, the incumbent vice governor, said.

No show

As early as Tuesday morning when canvassing resumed after being delayed for almost nine hours due to delayed transmission of results from the municipal level, talks of Geraldine conceding to her mother already spread at the halls of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan where the provincial canvassing was taking place.

As the official results were read and the crowd cheered when the elder Ecleo was proclaimed winner later in the afternoon, talks of Geraldine coming to the canvassing area still persisted.

Inside her house later in the night, Geraldine admitted she would have gone to the proclamation with her party mate Bag-ao but the presence of supporters flocking to her residence expressing their disappointment stopped her from going.

“I really wanted to cry while taking a shower but I couldn’t,” she said.

Facing reporters after the proclamation, a teary-eyed Bag-ao expressed gratitude for her victory and sadness to her party mates who lost, especially Geraldine.

Geraldine’s loss, however, did not change the fact that the Ecleos still rule the province, which is touted as a mystical island for its beautiful and scenic spots that are still largely untouched, except for the bonsai forest that is now bulldozed because of mining operations.

“It’s still the same, it is still Ecleo. The situation will not be changed because they still rule the place,” lawyer Victor Bernal said in an earlier interview.

Bernal was one of the lawyers who filed a protest against the creation of Dinagat Islands as a separate province of Surigao del Norte.

Dinagat Islands is considered one of the poorest provinces in the country.

During the campaign period, Geraldine criticized the PBMA leadership for making false hopes on people, especially for equating political governance to “divine providence.”

She also said that for several years that her mother and siblings have controlled Dinagat Islands as local chief executives, the province is still poor. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Sherwin Mañada, National Electrification Administration project supervisor, said Friday they have received a notice of power curtailment from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

Mañada is also the acting general manager of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco).

“The NGCP today advised Zamcelco that the Mindanao grid is on red alert from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. due to zero contingency reserve caused by generation deficiency,” Mañada said in an advisory.

Zamcelco will again impose three to four hours outage per feeder starting at 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Mañada said.

Zamcelco has 24 electric feeders servicing at least 150,000 consumers in this city.

All electric feeders will have twice a day frequency of power outage, according to the power interruption schedule prepared by Zamcelco.

“This schedule, however, is subject to change by the NGCP without prior notice depending on the supply and demand,” he said. (MindaNews)

Captain Antonio Bulao, spokesman for the Army’s 602nd Brigade based in Carmen, North Cotabato, said the wounded MILF rebels were immediately rushed for treatment to the Cotabato Provincial Hospital at Amas Complex in this city.

Soldiers helped the wounded get immediate medical attention after they sought the assistance of the Army, Bulao said.

The fresh encounters occurred three days after the warring Moro rebel groups agreed to a ceasefire also in line with Monday’s elections, following a dialogue last Sunday at Barangay Marbel in Matalam town.

It was spearheaded by members of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) of the GPH-MILF, said Senior Insp. Elias Dandan, Matalam police chief.

The MILF and MNLF members recently clashed in the village after the latter allegedly prevented the former to conduct an information drive there on the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which the government and the MILF signed in October.

Dandan said during the meeting, commander Datu Dima Ambil of the MNLF Sebangan Kutawato State Revolutionary Committee assured both the IMT and the CCCH that they would actively take part in the elections.

“In fact, majority of the 200 displaced families were able to cast their votes on Monday,” said Brig. Gen. Ademar Tomaro, commander of the Army’s 602nd Brigade.

Three days later, the warring groups were locked again in armed fighting, which resulted to the wounding of two MILF members and renewed wave of displacement, Bulao said.

On Thursday, Tomaro ordered the deployment of additional forces in areas where vital installations, including power facilities, are located to secure them from any of the armed Moro group.

The Army official said that based on their monitoring, armed men were sighted near the main headquarters of the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) in Barangay Manubuan in Matalam, just a few kilometers away from the encounter site. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu denied allegations his team resorted to election irregularities in last Monday’s elections and rallied his people behind “CHEAT Maguindanao.”

He said Maguindanao was viewed in past elections as “cheating capital,” apparently referring to the role Maguindanao, the vote-richest among the five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, played in controversial elections such as the 2004 Presidential and 2007 national mid-term polls where the province served as vote bank for candidates needing additional votes to join the wining circle or to top the race.

He said this is no longer true. “Kailangan (We need) CHEAT Maguindanao. Clean Honest Election And Transparent. CHEAT Maguindanao,” Mangudadatu told reporters after his proclamation as winner in the gubernatorial race late Wednesday night.

CHEAT Maguindanao. Clean Honest Election And Transparent.” he repeated onstage at the Shriff Kabunsuan Cultural Center at the ARMM compound, venue of the provincial canvassing.

Mangudadatu, who won a second term against lone opponent, Sultan Kudarat Mayor Tucao Mastura, led by at least 100,000 votes in 34 of 36 towns canvassed by the Provincial Board of Canvassers, with 195,473 votes against Mastura’s 94,678.

Outgoing Vice Governor Ismael “Dustin” Mastura, Tucao’s nephew, on Wednesday noon said they were mulling the filing of an electoral protest, claiming there was “massive vote-buying,” “terrorism” and “manipulation” of the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines in Monday’s polling.

Dustin lost in his bid for a seat at the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Mangudadatu told MindaNews that allegations of vote-buying and cheating are “black propaganda.”

“Walang vote-buying” (there was no vote-buying), he said, adding, they won because the people know whom to choose.

Mangudadatu said he will send the Commission on Elections a position paper to adopt the biometrics technology in the 2016 polls “para magkaroon nga mas lalong matiwasay na eleksyon” (so we can have more peaceful elections).

Following his proclamation, he appealed to his political foes to help him.

“Kung ano man ang nasabi namin na medyo masakit nung kasagsagan ng kampanyan, sana wag nang dibdibin yun” (Whatever hurting things we may have said at the height of the campaign, I hope they will not take that to heart).

He said he hopes they will help him because “amin itong Maguindanao, atin itong lahat” (this is our Maguindanao, this is all ours).

“Tulungan nila ako dahil gusto ko lumago ang Maguindanao,” (I call on them to help because I want Maguindanao to progress), he said.

Maguindanao needs a lot of help, with 58 out of 100 families estimated to be poor in 2012, according to the “First Semester Per Capita Poverty Threshold poverty incidence among Families, by Region and Province: 2006, 2009 and 2012” of the National Statistical Coordinating Board.

Nationwide, “22 out of 100 families were estimated to be poor in the 1st semester of 2012,” the NSCB said.

Lanao del Sur, the poorest province in the country, according to the NSCB report has a poverty incidence of 68.9%. Maguindanao, second poorest in Mindanao and fourth poorest nationwide, has a poverty incidence of 57.8%.

In 2006, according to the NSCB report, Maguindanao’s poverty incidence was 47.7%. In 2009, it went down to 37.6% but went up to 57.8% in 2012.

Based on the NSCB report, 48 out of 100 families in Maguindanao were estimated to be poor in the first semester of 2006. In 2009, it went down to 38 families and in 2012 went up to 58. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

This was Maguindanao governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu’s response when asked Monday night at his proclamation as reelected governor, where he and Vice Governor-elect Lester Sinsuat would hold office.

It was the same question asked of Mangudadatu  and then Vice Governor-elect Ismael “Dustin” Mastura when he was proclaimed governor on May 14, 2010.

The P218-million provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak town, supposedly the seat of the provincial government, was built by his predecessor, Andal Ampatuan, Sr. and May 2010 was only six months from the November 23, 2009 massacre of 58 persons, including his wife, sisters, relatives and 32 media workers. The primary suspects in the massacre were the Ampatuans.

Citing security reasons, Ampatuan abandoned the capitol in Sultan Kudarat a few months after he won the election in 2001 against then reelectionist Zacaria Candao, and moved over to Shariff Aguak, his hometown, after an alleged ambush on his convoy.

Citing security concerns,  Governor-elect Mangudadatu and Vice Governor-elect Mastura, said they would hold office temporarily in their respective hometowns, pending the rehabilitation of the old Capitol in Simuay – Mangudadatu in a building supposedly intended for a training center, fronting the municipal hall compound in Buluan, and Mastura in the ABC (Association of Barangay Captains) building in his hometown in Sultan Kudarat town.

Pending rehabilitation of the Sultan Kudarat capitol, Mangudadatu converted a building intended for a training center in Buluan as his “satellite office”  but eventually constructed a new building along the highway which he called “Rajah Buayan Silongan Peace Center Satellite Office Province of Maguindnao.”  He told MindaNews Monday night that he donated that land on where the building stands.

Mastura, presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan  or Provincial Board,  sought refuge in the compound of  the town hall of Sultan Kudarat, where his uncle Tucao Mastura, Mangudadadtu’s lone opponent in the 2013 gubernatorial race, for temporary quarters.

The Board initially used the ABC building in the Sultan Kudarat municipal compound and later moved to the old capitol compound in Simuay, along the Cotabato-Davao national highway, after appropriating P2 million for the rehabilitation of the former General Services Office into what is now the Sangguniang Panlalawigan building.

Simuay is 120 kilometers or 140 kilometers from Buluan, depending on where one passes. The longer route passes through Shariff Aguak, the shorter via Tulunan-Mlang highway.

Except for the building now occupied by the Sanggunian,  no action was taken on the supposed rehabilitation of the old capitol site.

Mastura and Mangudadatu never held office in the same building in their three-year term. The two also had an early falling out and were last seen in a public gathering on their 100^th day in office on October 10, 2010, in Mangudadatu’s hometown in Buluan.

On Monday night, Mangudadatu, the target of a roadside bomb explosion on August 15, 2011 as his convoy was passing the Alunan highway in Tacurong City for his birthday celebration at the family resort,  said his office in Buluan is just a “satellite office” but said “pwede rin akong mag-opisina sa Shariff Aguak” (I can also hold office in Shariff Aguak).

“Actually nag-start na kami ng repair,” (we’ve started repairing it), he said.

Three years earlier, Mangudadatu said he was thinking of  converting the Shariff Aguak capitol into a museum or for use of government agencies “such as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources,  Philippine National Police  headquarters, Department of Education.”

The huge Capitol compound in Shariff Aguak which has a main building, a gymnasium and several stand-alone one-floor buildings,  is  presently occupied by the Philippine Army’s 1^st Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan building in Sultan Kudarat may be vacated on June 30 as the incoming eight-member Sanggunian, dominated by the Liberal Party members at 7 to 1,  may not likely want to hold office in the bailiwick of the Masturas.

Vice Governor-elect Datu Lester Sinsuat, who is based in Datu Odin Sinsuat town, told reporters he still has to meet with his board members and decide on where they would hold office. He said they would consult with the governor as well.

He told MindaNews they have up to June 30 to decide on where the Provincial Board would hold office.

The 2010-2013 Provincial Board passed on May 3, 2011 Resolution 078, establishing Simuay as the official site of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. On April 3, 2012, the Board passed Resolution 132 reiterating Sultan Kudarat town as the official seat of Maguindanao.

The old capitol site in Sultan Kudarat is 48 kilometers away from Datu Odin Sinsuat; Datu Odin Sinsuat is 25 kilometers away from the Shariff Aguak capitol and Shariff Aguak is 60 kilometers away from Mangudadatu’s hometown and “satellite office.”

Mangudadatu asserts the official seat of Maguindanao is in Shariff Aguak,  on the land behind the  Provincial Police Office, where the Capitol used to stand. He said this building was burned but when Ampatuan opted to build a new Capitol, he built it on land believed to be owned by him.

Mangudadatu told MindaNews he is considering setting up or renting “small buildings”  as “satellite offices.”

“Mas lalong gaganda ang Maguindanao. Pwede ka mag-upisina sa Parang, sa Upi, maliliit lang (na building)  kung may pa-rentahan sila sa amin, re-rentahan namin maliliit lang na buildings” (Maguindanao will be much better. You can hold office in Parang, in Upi, just small buildings. Or  if they can rent to us, we will rent).

He said it would be easier for them to attend to problems if they have  “satellite offices”  in key areas. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews) 

Is it a time for celebration? No. It is time for circumspection and discernment as to where our society and political system are headed.

It is now over a century of so-called independence (since 1898) and over half a century since the umbilical cord of U.S. tutelage (since 1946) was severed.

Can we already say we have a democracy? No. We have a nominal democracy at best. What can one expect of a nation of nominal Christians, nominal Muslims, and nominal most other things? Nominal citizens of a nominal democracy, of course!

Otherwise, how does one account for the absence of real political parties, of nominating conventions, of nomination formalities? How justify substituting dynastic surrogates or a gang of conspirators for party faithful? How explain unworthy scions of self-proclaimed trapos as candidates?

Were there qualifying standards, debates, a pledge or declaration of patriotic service? Was ever an oath of allegiance to the Constitution or to the Flag intoned? How explain rampant, shameless, gross resort to vote-buying in a democracy? There is so little to celebrate!

But there are lots to be gnashing and grinding one’s teeth about. Lots to regret, to sigh over, to exclaim: what a pity! Pity naman! Maawa naman kayo!

Pity our body politic, now thoroughly encrusted with political dynasties that pitilessly feed upon the infirmity of a still-evolving political system.

Pity our people, ignorant and politically immature, clueless about their power as the wellspring of sovereignty and government authority, upon whose choices hinge the destiny of our nation.

Pity our community, badly organized, its resources blithely exploited, the popular will readily molded like putty by manipulators.

Pity democracy, trashed by unscrupulous trapos with insatiable appetite for power and pelf.

Pity our political system, starved of statesmen and stately women, firmly in the grip of vested interests.

Pity our Republic, hostage to corrupt, rent-seeking sectors that turn politics into family enterprise and economics into monopolies.

Pity our culture, victim of plunder and barbarism by opportunists and hypocrites with a hammer-lock on state resources.

But no pity for the corrupt and the venal who will not be denied their pound of flesh, who will buy their way to office with cash, kind, or whatever.

Lots of pity for our youth, though, the next generation, victims of their elders’ stupidity.

Pity too for our countryside, playground of predatory insurgents that victimize simple folk, sowing anarchy, wreaking havoc on a still-to-be-civilized polity.

Pity for ourselves, unable to forge consensus, bereft of political will, failing to organize effectively, helpless against predatory public servants.

Pity for leaders bankrupt of patriotism, incapable of scaling heights of statesmanship.

Pity for the worker and the farmer, without real representation, unable to obtain his due, deprived of attention and a fair share of the national wealth.

Pity for the economy, captive of oligarchs, plutocrats and rent-seeking cacique.

Pity for the future, already mortgaged to Taipans and Masons and multinationals.

Pity for the Party System, drowning in an alphabet-soup of indeterminate, greedy interest groups.

Pity for bona fide party-lists that provide ersatz legitimacy for Communist fronts that rake in billions in pork to finance armed insurgency in order to topple legitimate, democratic government.

Pity for the so-called mainstream parties, bereft of platform, principle or ideology, with no worthy champions, failing miserably to provision our democracy with a pool of committed democrats and civil servants.

Overall, Pity for the Philippines and countless Filipino citizens that toil from afar to rescue the homeland from the depredations of all the above! [MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Manny
Valdehuesa writes from Cagayan de Oro and is the president and national convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc. (valdehuesa@gmail.com)]

Dinagat town mayor Gwendolyn Ecleo (Nacionalista Party) lost the House race to Liberal Party’s Arlene Bag-ao.

Tubajon and Loreto towns delivered votes for Bag-ao and other Liberal Party candidates. But the five other towns went for the Ecleos or their allies.

In a rare intra-family matchup though, Gwendolyn’s mother, Glenda B. Ecleo, won by a slim margin of 625 votes against her daughter and Bag-ao ally Geraldine “Jade” Ecleo who had already conceded.

“I am happy of course. To my (fellow) Dinagatnons, I am thankful for your help that’s why I won. I hope and pray to God that He will bless us all and keep us healthy,” Glenda or “Mommy Glen” said after her proclamation at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

His son and running mate, Benglen, trounced Liberal Party candidate Merly Lagroma.

“I am sad and happy because my sister lost. But she fought an honorable fight,” Benglen, younger brother of fugitive former Dinagat congressman Ruben Ecleo Jr., said.

Ruben Jr., who evaded a prison term for the murder of his wife, became “supreme master” of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), which was founded by his father and namesake.

Allan Ecleo II, who was re-elected as San Jose town mayor, said the family is happy with the results but also expressed regrets over Gwendolyn’s loss.

Asked to react on Bag-ao’s win, he said the congresswoman had the advantage as an incumbent aside from enjoying the President’s support.

Allan Ecleo I, Allan II’s twin brother, won as mayor of Basilisa town.

Glenda made use of her role in making Dinagat Islands a province to ensure continued support from her constituents who are mostly PBMA members. Considered one of the poorest in the country, the province used to be part of Surigao del Norte.

Dinagat Islands’ creation as a province faced a legal challenge before the Supreme Court. But on Sept. 20, 2012, the High Tribunal upheld a 2011 decision declaring as constitutional the law creating the province.

PBMA, widely regarded as a cult for its mystical beliefs, is the Ecleo family’s main political base. According to a report by Rappler, the group has around 140,000 members in the country and abroad. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Duque Kadatuan, Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial supervisor, proclaimed Fuentes winner at around 11:30 a.m. in a three-cornered gubernatorial derby involving incumbent Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. and former Koronadal City mayor Fernando Miguel.

Based on the final and official Comelec results, Fuentes garnered 117,855 votes followed by Pingoy with 111,214, and Miguel with 99,103.

Fuentes edged Pingoy with 6,641 votes.

It took the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) three days to declare the winning candidates at the provincial level after the polls closed on Monday.

Kadatuan blamed the delay on the defective compact flash memory cards of some of the precinct count optical scan machines.

Following her proclamation at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall here, Fuentes called for unity among rival politicians to further move the province forward.

The winning governor earlier in the day described the just concluded elections as the “worst ever experience for politicians” in the province’s 47-year history, having been allegedly marred by massive vote-buying and false promises.

“The challenge for our politicians now is how to change that culture of vote-buying so pervasive during the elections. Money and rice flowed during the election to buy support,” Fuentes said.

She did not name who were allegedly involved in vote-buying but is apparently referring to the camp of Pingoy.

Fuentes said that voters were also allegedly given P5,000 worth of grocery cards only to find out it has no funds.

But Pingoy, who ran under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), denied they engaged in vot- buying.

“That always happens during elections. Allegations of vote-buying done by the other camp always crops up,” he told MindaNews.

Pingoy noted that voters should come out to tell who has been involved in the buying of votes in the province.

He said he would not contest the results of the elections, adding, however, that there “are some who wants a recount of the votes in the first district.”

Fuentes noted that the May 2013 election in the province was also characterized by “broken ties among close associates whose alliances dated 20 years ago.”

Fuentes thanked Miguel for joining the gubernatorial race, stressing that had it just been between her and Pingoy, she would have lost the contest.

During the campaign, Miguel had endorsed Fuentes if people won’t vote for him.

Once she takes over as governor, Fuentes said she would sustain the programs of Pingoy that have worked for the people.

Fuentes claimed she won’t be “vindictive” against those who supported Pingoy’s bid.

However, she warned those who may have been involved in irregularities, particularly corruption, that she will go after them through the filing of cases.

Fuentes ran under the Liberal Party-Nationalist People’s Coalition slate.

Her party mates emerged victorious in the races for the first and second congressional districts.

Reelectionist Rep. Pedro Acharon retained the post by garnering 138,079 votes. He defeated Rogelio Pacquiao, brother of boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, who got 130,377 votes.

In the second congressional district, lawyer Ferdinand Hernandez finally clinched the post after three failed attempts. He got 121,933 votes while his opponent, incumbent Vice Gov. Elmo Tolosa, Pingoy’s party mate, mustered 89,776 votes.

Cecile Diel, Pingoy’s ally, won the vice gubernatorial race with 134,412 votes, beating Ernesto Catedral, Fuentes’ running mate.

For the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the winning bets were Gly Mariano Trabado (UNA), Romeo Tamayo (NPC) and Jobee Baitus (UNA) for the first district and Vicente de Jesus (NPC), Ester Catorce (UNA), Grace Subere-Albios (NPC), Ervin Luntao (UNA), Agustin Demaala (NPC), Romulo Solivio (UNA) and Samuel Ladot (UNA) for the second district. (Bong S. Sarmiento/MindaNews)

Lawyer Aimee Ampoloquio, chair of CBOC, said they will resume the transmission of results once the compact flash cards arrive from Manila. These cards are expected to arrive either Friday or Saturday.

Clustered precincts 707 and 753 lacked compact flash cards while clustered precinct 808 had a defective one.

The results from the three clustered precincts could change the standing of the candidates particularly the eighth spot which may go to either re-electionist Jimmy Dureza or Arnolfo Apostol.

As of Thursday, Dureza ranked eighth with 83,761 votes while Apostol had 82,190.

Ampoloquio said the results from the remaining three clustered precincts should be transmitted as there is only a slight difference of 1,571 votes between the two candidates. Once the board finishes the transmission of results, it will proclaim the winners.

The second district has a total of 365 clustered precincts with 297,930 registered voters.

But on Wednesday night, re-electionist Diosdado Mahipus, who currently ranked fifth for the second district based on the partial unofficial results, complained that the proclamation for the other leading candidates should be done while waiting for the eighth placer to be known.

The results from the three clustered precincts, he said, will no longer affect the standing of the top seven candidates.

Ampoloquio, however, explained that they need to print the certificate of canvass and proclamation together with the complete list of the top eight candidates.

“We cannot control the program. We can only print a complete list,” she said.

The CBOC, meanwhile, proclaimed Wednesday night the winners for mayor, vice mayor, Congress along with the winners of the city council for the first and third districts.

The board proclaimed Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who got 473,375 votes as mayor-elect and his son, Paolo Duterte, who earned 437,266 votes as vice mayor-elect. The city has 967,944 registered voters but only 548,341 actually voted on Monday.

For the congressional race, the three incumbent House members managed to retain their posts.

First district Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles got 132, 275 votes, second district Rep. Mylene Garcia Albano 99,869, and third district Rep. Isidro Ungab 114,657.

For the city council, the winners for the first district are Maria Belen Acosta (142,440 votes), Edgar Ibuyan (124,855), Leonardo Avila III (124,045), Leah Librado (123,394), Melchor V. Quitain (114,500), Nilo Abellera Jr. (106,260), Joanne Bonguyan – Quilos (104,875) and Bonifacio Militar (100,514).

For the third district, the winners are Karlo Bello (95,894 votes), Bernard Al-Ag (92,992), Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz (86,255), Rachel Zozobrado (84,525), Mary Joselle Villafuerte (72,340), Antonette Principe (70,296), Victorio Advincula Jr. (68,217) and Rene Elias Lopez (60,182). [MindaNews]

Based on official results released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), former radio anchors Elizabeth Bagonoc and Erlinda Pabi-Araquil were reelected for another term at the city councils here and Koronadal City, respectively, while another broadcaster, Esther Marin-Catorce, made it to the provincial board of South Cotabato.

Bagonoc, who was a popular anchor at the Catholic Church-run radio station dxCP before joining the political arena several years ago, finished second in the race for the 12 city council seats here.

She was first elected in 1987 and was reelected in 1992, 1995 and in the 2010 elections.

Bagonoc, who ran under the Liberal Party-Achiever’s with Integrity Movement (LP-AIM), is presently majority floor leader of the city council, which is dominated by her party.

She earlier pushed for the passage of city council resolutions supporting the live media coverage for the Ampatuan massacre trial and the amendment of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

In Koronadal City, incumbent councilor Araquil took the ninth of the 10 city council seats for her fresh three-year term despite running as an independent.

She initially gained popularity as reporter and anchor of radio station Bombo Radyo and later of the defunct GMA Super Radyo Koronadal.

Earlier this year, Araquil resumed her radio career as anchor of the newly-opened radio station Brigada News FM in Korondal City but filed a leave of absence when the local campaign period started last March 29.

Catorce, who will complete her three straight terms as Koronadal City councilor in June, is presently at third place in the race for the seven provincial board seats in South Cotabato’s second district.

A stalwart of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), she anchored various programs at the Radio Mindanao Network’s station dxKR in Koronadal City and at the defunct GMA Super Radyo Koronadal before winning a seat at the Koronadal city council in 2004.

Catorce is currently on leave as anchor of radio station Brigada News FM in Korondal City.

On the other hand, five other former media practitioners, who were all males, lost in their election bids last May 13.

Former Bombo Radyo General Santos station manager Dante Vicente, who is popularly known as Vic Dante, failed to get a third term as city councilor after finishing 15th in the race for the council’s 12 seats.

Vicente, who ran under the LP-AIM ticket, is currently on leave as anchor of radio station Brigada News FM General Santos.

Two other former media workers — Love Ladrera of K101 FM station and Sannie Sombrio of ABS-CBN General Santos — landed 20th and 26, respectively, in the city council race here.

Ladrera was a member of the People’s Champ Movement-United Nationalist Alliance while Sombrio ran as an independent.

In South Cotabato, former Bombo Radyo Koronadal assistant station manager and three-term provincial board member Romar Olivarez (Nationalist People’s Coalition) came in 10th in the race for the board’s seven seats in the second district while former community newspaper writer and three-term board member Eduardo Siason (UNA) only finished 16th. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

Galario garnered 30,012 votes against Catarata’s 27,752. But Catarata’s running mate Azucena Huervas won over two other rivals with 30,099 votes.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed Galario and Huervas Wednesday.

The proclamation of nine city councilors was scheduled Thursday morning, Chubasco Cenen Caiña, Valencia City acting election officer told MindaNews via text message.

The Comelec identified the winning councilors as Rolando P. Lavina, Oliver Garcia, Rodrigo Rosal, Galario, Camilo E. Pepito, Eduardo D. Chan, John Lee Quillo, Helen T. Bernal, Policarpio Murillo IV and Glenn Galario, an incumbent councilor and son of the mayor-elect.

Comelec Valencia announced that the councilors will be proclaimed without rank pending the canvassing of two more precincts in Barangay Concepcion with corrupted compact flash (CF) cards.

Valencia has the biggest number of precincts in Bukidnon with 150.

Caiña said the 10th councilor would be known Thursday morning after getting the results from Concepcion.

In the partial results Rolando Centillas Jr. and Almer Alfonso Jr. are in the 10th and 11th places.

The replacement CF cards from Comelec Manila did not arrive Tuesday night.

The City Board of Canvassers scheduled to reconvene Thursday morning to canvass the pending results in Concepcion.

The elder Galario was elected mayor of Valencia in 2001 and 2004. In 2007, Catarata won and was reelected in 2010.

Galario’s victory in 2001 was considered an upset win. He defeated Carlos O. Fortich, Bukidnon’s longest serving governor who had never lost in previous elections.

The Sandiganbayan convicted Galario to six years imprisonment after it found him guilty of violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

But Galario had appealed the decision before the Sandiganbayan First Division.

Reports said the case against Galario stemmed from the complaint of Ruth P. Piano, who Galario replaced as city budget officer when he assumed as city mayor on July 2, 2001. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)

Cotelco general manager Godofredo Homez said their advisory on load curtailment for North Cotabato came from the National Power Corporation (Napocor).

The reserved power for Mindanao, which came from the hydroelectric plants at the Agus complex in Lanao del Sur and Pulangi in Bukidnon, has already been used to service the whole island for three days since Monday.

Homez said Napocor had started to increase the volume of water for the hydroelectric plants weeks before the elections.

The firm released the water starting May 12.

“The continued power we experienced during the past days was Napocor’s commitment to ensure continuity of the election process – from casting votes until proclamation of winners,” said Homez.

“If there were fluctuations during election time in some parts of Mindanao, including North Cotabato, the power firm was able to restore it the soonest time possible”, he stressed.

Starting Friday, Cotelco’s service areas will again experience rotating brownouts from three to four hours daily.

The brownouts, Homez said, would usually happen during peak hours – from 8 am until 12 noon, and from 3pm until 6 pm.

For this month, Cotelco, based on the power purchase contract it signed with Napocor, will only get 10MW, which is only 31 percent of the total electricity needs of at least 98,000 power consumers in North Cotabato.

The province needs 32MW during peak hours, Homez said.

To offset the deficiency, Cotelco buys additional 8MW from the power barges of the Therma Marine, Inc. located in Maco, Compostela Valley. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)

He and running mate Ismael “Dustin” Mastura were proclaimed winners three hours later – at 5:40 p.m.

Three years and one day later, on May 15, 2013, Mangudadatu rode a Simba armored personnel carrier escorted by a military convoy, to his proclamation as reelected governor at Maguindanao  at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao compound here. He arrived at 5:15 p.m. with the PBOC still awaiting transmission of results from three towns: General SK Pendatun, Parang and Sultan Kudarat.

He and running mate, Datu Lester Sinsuat, and other provincial officials including Mangudadatu’s brothers Zajid (2^nd district congressman) and Khadafeh (2^nd district ARMM Assemblyman)  were proclaimed six hours  later – at 11:09 p.m.

RE-ELECTED. Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu (2nd from left) and Datu Lester Sinsuat (right) were proclaimed governor and vice governor by the provincial board of canvassers’ of Maguindanao at 11:09 p.m. on May 15, 2013. MindaNews photo by Toto Lozano

The 44-year old Mangudadatu, arrived with his brothers Zajid and Khadafeh, and his 38-year old running mate Lester, mayor of Datu Odin Sinsuat town and son of one of two opponents Mangudadatu defeated in the 2010 gubernatorial race: Datu Ombra Sinsuat, who is returning as mayor when his son assumes the post of Vice Governor on June 30.

The other man he defeated in that election was Ali Midtimbang, this year’s running mate of  his lone opponent, Sultan  Kudarat mayor Datu Tucao Mastura, uncle of his 2010 running mate, Dustin.

Mangudadatu did not need to wait for results from the three towns as he was leading by at least 90,000 votes against his lone opponent, Sultan Kudarat mayor Datu Tucao Mastura, uncle of Dustin, in 33 of 36 towns.  He said his running mate was also leading but would still need the results of the remaining towns.

The three towns have a total of 83,603 registered voters, 40,058 of which are from Mastura’s bailiwick, Sultan Kudarat.

After the votes of Northern Kabuntalan were canvassed at around 5 p.m., PBOC member-secretary Paharudin Akot announced that in 33 of 36 towns, Mangudadatu got 180,756 votes against Mastura’s 86,651 or a lead of 94,105.

When the results from Parang town were transmitted at around 7:20 p.m.  Mangudadatu got 14,717 votes against Mastura’s 8,027, making their total number of votes at 195,473 and 94,678, respectively or a lead of 100,795.

35 of 36, 34 of 36 towns

At 4:14 p.m. of May 14,  2010, acting provincial election supervisor and PBOC chair Renault Macarambon announced that the results of South Upi had been “successfully transmitted.”

When the Mangudadatu-Mastura lawyers asked the PBOC to already proclaim them winners since the Datu Blah Sinsuat votes would not affect their candidates’ standing, the Comelec’s Macarambon asked at around 4:30 p.m. for an hour’s recess to seek written permission from the regional director to lower the threshold from 100% or all 36 towns, to 35 towns.

With 35 towns already canvassed, Mangudadatu and Mastura were proclaimed at 5:40 p.m., Mangudadatu winning 153,706 votes against Sinsuat’s 141,001 and Midtimbang’s 68,586 votes.

Mangudadatu’s running mate, Dustin Mastura, who ran against Andal Ampatuan, Sr. won 173,111 votes against Ampatuan’s 142,783.

The Ampatuan patriarch by then had been detained for his alleged involvement in the November 23, 2009 massacre of 58 persons, including  Mangudadatu’s wife, sisters and relatives and 32 other from the media.

The  58 victims were on their way to Shariff Aguak town from Mangudadatu’s hometown in Buluan to file his certificate of candidacy when stopped by about a hundred armed men believed led by Andal Ampatuan, Jr., who was then running for governor.

It was the worst pre-election violent incident in Philippine history and the worst worldwide in terms of the number of media workers killed in a single incident.

At 10:10 p.m. of May 15, 2013, acting provincial election supervisor and PBOC chair Nasib Yasin announced that he had received the authority to lower the canvassing threshold to 34 towns and allow the proclamation of  Mangudadatu and Sinsuat because even if the votes of the two towns – 52,206 registered voters, assuming a 100% voter turnout — were all given to Mastura and Midtimbang, Mangudadatu and Sinsuat would still win the race.

Mangudadatu and Sinsuat were proclaimed winners at 11:09 p.m., the hands-raising rites done thrice –  the PBOC’s area on the platform first and the main stage twice.

Allies and turfs

The political foes in 2010 had become allies by 2013.

In the 2013 polls, Mangudadatu allied with the Sinsuats, while Tucao and Dustin Mastura, who is running for Assemblyman in the Regional Legislative Assembly, allied with the Midtimbangs and Ampatuans.

In 2010, based on the results of 35 towns, Mangudadatu won in 17 towns – in Ampatuan, site of the November 23, 2009 massacre; Buluan, the Mangudadatus’ hometown; General SK Pendatun; Kabuntalan, Mangudadatu, Northern Kabuntalan, Pagagawan, Pagalungan, Paglat, Pandag, Parang, Rajah Buayan, South Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, Sultan Sa Barongis and Upi.

In 2013, based on results of 34 towns, Mangudadatu won in 22 towns – in  Ampatuan, Barira, Buldon, Buluan, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Mangudadatu, Northern Kabuntalan, Pagagawan, Paglat, Pandag, Parang, Rajah Buayan, South Upi, Sultan Sa Barongis, Talitay and Upi.

Mastura won in 12 towns with Sultan Kudarat, his bailiwick, as the 13^th. Sultan Kudarat was able to transmit its results at 7:48 p.m.  but these were not read anymore as the results from Parang, which were transmitted a few minutes earlier, were enough to ensure victory for Sinsuat.

The results from Gen. SK Pendatun were not transmitted to the PBOC. The town has 12,148 registered voters.

Earlier, Sultan Kudarat was not able to transmit the results because of defective memory card in  a clustered precinct in Barangay Simuay comprising 905 votes, Acting Election Officer Normida Umpar told MindaNews early Wednesday morning.

But since the number of votes would not affect the results at the local level, Umpar  proclaimed Tusday night the winners led by mayor-elect Shameen Mastura, daughter of  Tucao Mastura.

In the gubernatorial race in Sultan Kudarat, where Mastura was completing his third term as mayor, Mastura won 37,797 votes against Mangudadatu’s 399, according to the municipal canvass report from 55 of 56  clustered precincts, a copy of which Umpar showed to MindaNews.

In the electoral contest for vice governor in 2010, Dustin Mastura won in 22 towns – in Ampatuan, Buluan, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, General SK Pendatun, Guindulungan, Kabuntalan, Mangudadatu, Northern Kabuntalan; Pagagawan, Pagalungan, Paglat,Pandag, Parang,, Rajah Buayan, South Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, Sultan Sa Barongis, Talayan, Talitay, Upi.

His opponent, the Ampatuan patriarch, won in 13 towns – in Barira, Buldon, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Mamasapano, Matanog, Shariff Aguak, Shariff Saydona. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

Lawyer Roy Prule Ediza, provincial election supervisor, proclaimed the winners in Sibugay’s election race around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday. Lawyer Wilter Palma won as governor and Dr. Ann Hofer as representative of the second district.

Palma and Hofer stood against the Jalosjos administration and started to establish their presence last year under the political party of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.

The LP-Sibugay camp gained momentum when issues of corruption, mismanagement of funds and extortion hit the Jalosjos administration late last year. The Jalosjos brothers vehemently denied the accusations.

Palma garnered a total of 118,575 votes and gained a lead of about 4,000 votes over Rommel Jalosjos.

Hofer also got an overwhelming 78,100 votes compared to her rival’s almost 60,000.

The session hall of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), which the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) occupied, was filled with LP supporters wearing yellow, and flooded the rest of the capitol complex with a “sea of yellow.”

Other winning candidates are lawyers Rey Andre Olegario for vice governor and Belma Cabilao as representative of the first district. This is Olegario’s third term and a fresh start for Cabilao under the Alliance of Parties for Progress (APP), a political party founded by Zamboanga Peninsula’s kingpin, Romeo “Nonong” Jalosjos.

Rommel and Romeo Jr. gained political strength in Zamboanga Sibugay starting in 2010 when they thumped the ruling Hofers, who continued their dominance for almost a decade.

Hofer, former second district representative, was defeated by Rommel Jalosjos in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu arrives at Sharif Kabunsuan Cultural Complex in Cotabato City on 15 May 2013 to wait for his proclamation. He is leading the gubernatorial race against lone opponent Sultan Kudarat Mayor Datu Tucao Mastura. MindaNews photo by Toto Lozano