BARMM execs asked to tender resignations
COTABATO CITY—Chief Minister Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua on Monday ordered all members of his Cabinet in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to tender their courtesy resignations amid recent issues hounding several senior officials of the regional government.
In a memorandum dated June 23, Macacua directed all ministers, deputy ministers and heads of offices to tender their “unqualified courtesy resignations” by June 30. He issued the memorandum “in light of serious and grave complaints” brought before him, although he did not mention what these were about.
Recently, the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) and the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) became the center of complaints voiced on social media over alleged irregularities in the procurement activities of the agencies.
MBHTE Minister Mohagher Iqbal and MILG Minister Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba have denied the allegations, describing these as “propaganda” to destroy their agencies’ image.
Macacua also cited the need “to improve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery” as the transition government prepares to hand over to the first set of elected BARMM leaders on Oct. 30 following the parliamentary elections on Oct. 13.
‘Crucial phase’
Macacua characterized this as a “crucial phase of the end of the transition period.”
Amid the call for courtesy resignations, Macacua ordered the incumbent officials to continue reporting for work but “perform only their routinary functions not involving discretion” until any action is taken on their respective resignations.
“In case a minister, deputy minister, head of office or agency covered by this memorandum circular fails or refuses for any reason to tender his or her unqualified courtesy resignation on or before the deadline, the refusing or failing official shall be deemed resigned,” Macacua’s memo read.
The Inquirer asked Macacua’s office if there were already officials who complied with the memo but there was no reply as of Tuesday afternoon.
Macacua, current military chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which forged a peace deal with the government in 2014, earlier announced that he was receiving complaints about alleged anomalies and irregularities in the regional government’s offices.
Many of these complaints, according to him, involved alleged corruption; delays by up to six months in the release of salaries of employees, including teachers; and late payment to contractors that led to further delays in the completion of major infrastructure projects in the region.
Macacua said he also received reports about “incorrect procurement processes” and nonremittance of contributions to the Government Service Insurance System.
Macacua floated the idea of asking his Cabinet members to submit their courtesy resignations last month in a bid “to protect moral governance in BARMM.”
Moral governance
“Our moral governance is under attack because of left and right complaints that have reached me,” Macacua told incoming officials of Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and Lanao del Sur provinces who took their oath before him.
“As the highest official of BARMM, I have to act on these complaints and take the necessary actions after due process to save [our] moral governance,” said Macacua, also secretary general of the MILF’s political arm, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party.
After the President appointed Macacua as the BARMM’s second interim chief minister on March 3, he made public his mobile phone numbers for anyone to send him information about issues related to the governance of the region.
“Umuusok ang mobile phone ko sa dami ng text messages na pumasok (It’s like my mobile phone was going up in smoke due to the volume of incoming text messages),” he then said in jest hours after making his phone numbers public.
In Manila, Commission on Elections Chair George Garcia on Tuesday said they were reviewing the progress of compliance with Macacua’s directive so the poll body could continue coordinating with officials and heads of ministries involved in the preparation for the BARMM parliamentary elections on Oct. 13.
“Any change in leadership will always have an implication on our preparations,” Garcia told reporters. —WITH A REPORT FROM DIANNE SAMPANG
