| Acting ARMM gov to stay in office until end of ARMM term? |
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| by Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews | |
| Friday, 18 December 2009 06:33 | |
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COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/17 December) – Acting ARMM governor Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong will likely stay in his post up to the end of the term of officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on September 30, 2011 because the crimes “charged against the regional governor are of the nature that bail is not recommend (and) is not possible,” Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno said.
Puno told reporters after the takeover of Adiong on December 14 here that this is the likely scenario because ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan has become “legally incapacitated to rule.” Aside from criminal charges, Puno said, Ampatuan is also going to face administrative charges which would also call for his suspension. Ampatuan was elected governor in 2005 and reelected in 2008. His three-year term of office ends September 30, 2011. “Puno should stop acting like a judge,” Ampatuan’s lawyer, Philip Pantojan, told MindaNews. Puno said Ampatuan was “arrested” on December 5 at his mansion in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, the morning after martial law was declared. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Ampatuan was “invited” and transported to General Santos City. An information for rebellion was filed against him, his father – Maguindanao governor Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., his siblings and several others – on December 9 in Cotabato City. Martial law was lifted at 9 p.m. of December 12. While complaints for murder have been filed against the Ampatuans before the Department of Justice, the only murder charges filed in court thus far have been against Andal Ampatuan, Jr., -- 25 counts of murder on December 1 – and additional 15 or a total of 40 counts while the rest are of the Ampatuans are to be subpoenaed “for them to submit their respective counter-affidavits and controverting evidence conformably with Section 3, Rule 112, Rules on Criminal Procedure.” A preliminary investigation is scheduled tomorrow at the Department of Justice in Manila for the other Ampatuans listed in the complaint. Other than Andal Ampatuan, Jr., the other accused Ampatuans are detained in the cities of Davao and General Santos City. Confined at an airconditioned room at the seaside Eastern Mindanao Command compound in Panacan, Davao City is the patriarch, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., Maguindanao governor while ARMM Governor Ampatuan is in the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group compound in General Santos City along with brothers Anwar and Sajid and brother-in-law Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan. In his speech, Puno said Monday’s takeover by Adiong marks a “new beginning,” he said as he explained his tasks under Administrative Orders (AO) 273 and 273-A. The AOs gave Puno power to exercise administrative control over the ARMM, including the power to suspend all local officials suspected to have complicity in the Ampatuan Massacre. “Although we will think that the lifting of martial law is now a green light for people who desire to disturb the peace, let me assure you that the continuing state of emergency exits to safeguard peace in the community,” he said, adding the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines will “protect and defend you against lawless violence – those who want to bring violence instead of peace in the autonomous region of Mindanao.” “I do not say this to intimidate the good. I say this towards those who are not good. There are those who believe they can now go back to old ways of violence. Let me tell you this: that era is over. We are not going to allow that one. A new era must now begin today, an era of peace, harmony and prosperity in the ARMM. “ He said his relationship “as delegated supervisor of the regional autonomous government” is “not an open-ended supervision relation.” He said that where control is concerned, he cannot change the decision of the regional governor but the governor can change the decision of any of his cabinet secretaries “in the same manner the President can change my decisions as local government secretary.” On supervision, he said, “I cannot change the decisions of the regional governor. He makes his own decisions and decides his own policies. Supervision only allows ensuring and assisting the regional governor that he will be safe in complying with his obligations under the Constitution. At the end of the day, it is the right of the autonomous government to do as it wants.” Puno also noted that what needs to be addressed is the “paralysis of governance that we face in some parts of the ARMM.” Acting Governor Adiong said he will await results of the audit before he reshuffles his Cabinet. “Sa ngayon lahat ng movement ko, ikokonsulta ko muna sa mga abogado ko dahil mahirap na. Ayokong tingin sa aking ay hindi maganda” (All my moves, I will consult first with my lawyers first. I do not want them to think ill of me). Puno said Adiong was a reluctant appointee. He quoted Adiong as saying “I just want to be vice governor.” In the information for rebellion charging the Ampatuans, no bail has been recommended for ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, his father and brothers. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews) Share this story through the following Social Media sites:            |
