Mangudadatu, 50 others seek ARMM OIC gov post

A total of 51 applicants, including Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto" Mangudadatu, are aspiring to become temporary governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Thursday. DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo said the five-member national screening committee, which he heads, has already began processing the applications for the different officers-in-charge (OIC) positions in the ARMM after the government postponed the elections there. “We have received a considerable number of applicants for the different OIC positions and this only goes to show that many of our Filipino-Muslim brothers would like to lead and help the government in instituting significant socio-economic changes in ARMM," Robredo said in a statement Thursday. Aside from Mangudadatu, among the 51 applicants for temporary ARMM governor are ex-ARMM governor Zacarias Candia, acting ARMM governor Ansarrudin Adiong, and former DILG deputy minister Saidamen Pangarungan. Mangudadatu lost his wife and two sisters during the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, one of the provinces under the ARMM. The massacre case is currently on trial at a Quezon City court. A total of 17 applicants, meanwhile, vied for the temporary vice-governor position, while 272 applied for membership in the Regional Legislative Assembly. The screening committee will come up with a short list of qualified applicants from all those who applied. The list will be submitted to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., who will submit their respective recommendations for President Benigno Aquino III’s approval. Other members of the screening committee are Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas, a civil society representative and a representative of ARMM local government units. The membership and functions of the screening committee are stipulated in Executive Order 51 issued by Aquino in July. Last June, Aquino signed Republic Act 10153 postponing the ARMM polls, which were originally scheduled last August 8, and synchronizing it with the 2013 midterm elections. - KBK, GMA News