President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the creation of a committee to screen and recommend persons who will be appointed as officers in charge (OIC) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Aquino signed Executive Order (EO) 51 on July 28 which was published on the Manila Bulletin on Monday, August 1. The committee will submit to the President a shortlist of at least three nominees to every vacancy in the elective positions in the ARMM regional government. The positions to be filled are regional governor, regional vice governor, and members of the regional legislative assembly. The deadline for submitting the shortlist is within 30 days from convening but not later than 10 days before September 30, 2011, after consultations with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. Once appointed, they shall perform the functions until the officials duly elected in the May 2013 elections shall have qualified and assumed office. The applicants for the positions should possess the qualifications required under Republic Act 6734 and RA 9054 or the Organic Act. Screening committee EO 51 states that the screening committee will be composed of:
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo; Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin; Presidential Political Adviser Ronald Llamas; a civil society representative who will be appointed by the President, a representative to be nominated from among and by the five governors, and one city mayor of ARMM. Robredo will convene the committee immediately upon effectivity of the EO and shall preside at the opening session until a chairman is selected by the committee. The committee, in choosing the persons they will recommend, will consider the following factors: educational preparation; work experience; performance; accomplishments; reputation for honesty; integrity; incorruptibility; irreproachable conduct, and fidelity to sound moral and ethical standards. The screening committee will be funded by the Office of the President. Covenant Malacañang earlier said those who will be appointed will need to enter a covenant that they will not run in the same position in 2013 to ensure that they will not use the position to advance their political interests. Republic Act 10153, which the President signed last month, postponed the elections in the ARMM, which was supposed to be held on August 8, and synchronized it with the national and local election on the second Monday of May 2013 and every three years thereafter. The ARMM postponement bill was the only piece of legislation certified as urgent by President Aquino. House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman filed a 76-page petition asking the high court to strike down the law for being "unconstitutional and invalid" shortly after Aquino enacted it. Lagman said it deprives the region of the autonomy accorded by the Constitution. "All of the built-in safeguards of autonomy in ARMM had been violated and vitiated by RA 10153," said Lagman. Lagman also asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent Malacañang from implementing RA 10153. - VVP, GMA News 
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