Foreign donors vow continued support for ARMM

COTABATO CITY — Foreign donors and international agencies have vowed continued support to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) regardless of who will be at the helm of the regional leadership. Also, the representatives of United Nations’ humanitarian agencies, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Indonesian Embassy renewed their favorable assessment of the personal traits and performance of ARMM officials led by Acting ARMM Gov. Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong. “I found Filipino technical people better as partners in service than those in other parts of Asia," Trevor Clark, Mindanao’s chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said at the Tapatan sa ARMM media forum last Thursday. Also, Clark said that among the people he admired is Governor Adiong, whose elective term of office ended last Friday, along with 25 other elected regional officials. The ARMM elections, which were originally scheduled last August 8 this year, were postponed by the government as it pushed for the synchronization of the polls with 2013 mid-term elections. But a Supreme Court ruling prevented President Benigno Aquino III from appointing ARMM officers-in-charge. Because of the ruling, ARMM officials can retain their positions in holdover capacity, after their three-year term lapsed last Friday, Sept. 30. The temporary restraining order (TRO) the SC issued earlier this month remains in effect, SC spokesman and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said. The TRO prevented the Aquino administration from implementing Republic Act. No 10153, the law synchronizing the 2011 ARMM elections with the 2013 mid-term elections. It also barred Aquino from appointing OICs to replace ARMM's regional governor, vice-governor, and Legislative Assembly members. — Mariz Revales/LBG, GMA News