An OIC in ARMM

Wednesday, 16 March 2011 03:36

Written by Malou Tiquia

As I was debating with a rabid yellow officer of the Aquino administration re the postponement of the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, he somehow got my nerve when he raised his voice and shouted, for everyone to hear, and in theatrical voice boomed: “Do you want a government in ARMM appointed by Malacanang? Well, that has been how ARMM gets their officials.” I paused pretending not to get peeved by the display of bravado and quietly retorted: “Why, are you different from the previous? Is Noy not tinkering with fate and playing the almighty in ARMM? Is your concept of officer-in-charge a lot better than the previous dispensation’s manner of selecting leaders to run in ARMM?” And I thought “kayo ang Boss ko” was real.

Realizing he committed a blunder and was boxing himself in the corner, the rabid yellow officer then again said, “we need to do an audit of ARMM? Where are the monies, especially the public works fund, given by the National Government?” He further added, “we need a Muslim technocrat so we can reform and change the failure known as ARMM.” Ah, another opening for me to shoot down such arguments or shall I say justifications peddled by the yellow brigade on the postponement of the August 8 elections. Audit? I countered that the Commission on Audit at the regional and national level are doing that, that’s their tasks. Just get the records and study them. You can also have a special audit done by the incoming ARMM administration to settle longstanding issues. That means, change (a very abused word under the Yellow-only government) will have to be done via institutions and not personalities.

A Muslim technocrat? Do we solve the problem that is ARMM by having a technocrat for two years? I teased the guy by saying you create change (here we go again) when you win. You can’t create change while running. Surely you can talk about it but those are hollowed promises waiting to be fulfilled. Can a technocrat solve the problems of ARMM in two years? That is wishful thinking, besides why would a technocrat offer his expertise in cleaning ARMM when the national government has made ARMM to be what it is today?

What is our experience in having OIC? I offered him just one response to shoot down his argument re OIC. “Andal Amapatuan Sr. started his career as an OIC and from there climbed the political ladder to be Governor of Maguindanao.” And talk was going around that BSA3 will directly head ARMM. Amazing!

So why is the Aquino government dead set in postponing the ARMM elections? Simple. One, they don’t have a viable candidate. Two, they don’t have a total hold of the situation in ARMM. And third, if elections are synchronized with the national in 2013, it will have a say over the 1.8 Million votes of ARMM. Soft ARMM, soft PH, soft state.

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