DAVAO CITY – Influential Sulu Governor Sakur Tan branded as incompetent former rebel leaders now running the Muslim autonomous region who failed miserably to deliver on their promise and still asked to junk the 2022 elections and give them a three extension.
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| President Benigno Aquino and MILF Chieftain Murad Ebrahim (Library Photo) |
Tan was referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders headed by Murad Ebrahim, who is now the Chief Minister of the five-province Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Ebrahim wanted to postpone the BARMM elections set by law and extend the term of the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority which violates the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
The MILF signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014 ending decades of bloody fighting in the South and this accord is also being used by Ebrahim to hold on to power.
Tan, in a recent interview with journalist Christian Esguerra, said: “Well, to tell you frankly Sir, I want to be frank para malaman din nila that they are not competent. They have no competence at all to govern. The problem is they want to govern and rule, so mahirap, dapat wag sila mabigla at parang nagkaroon ng culture shock yata eh.”
“Yun mga consultants nila, with due respect, ay incompetent din at hindi rin marunong. How would they know if they have not even come to the province of Sulu? There are those who call themselves Tausug, but ask them how many times have you come to Sulu? How long have you stayed in Sulu? Where have you been? So yun dapat ang tanong sa kanila,” he added.
Tan said the former rebels do not have the capability to run a government. He said his province voted not to be included in the BARMM during last year’s plebiscite and many sectors now are also opposing any extension of the term limits of the BTA members. “May mga manifesto opposing the proposed postponement ng BARMM, BTA elections sa 2022. These are manifesto signed by the governor, the vice governor, all members of the provincial board and 16 of the 19 mayors, the academe, and many more are opposing sa proposal nila (Ebrahim) to postpone the elections and to extend their term by another three years,” he said.
“Ang una ay may batas (BOL) na po and in that batas ay incorporated na po yung term nila sa transition sa three years, so wala kasing makitang dahilan, na yun magandang dahilan kung bakit kailangan i-extend, especially so na we feel that we should look into their performance after, what, almost two years or more than a year and they still have about 16, 18 months to perform. So hindi naman siguro dapat, especially so na sinasabi namin na they have been there for quite a long time at wala pa silang nagagawa. Dito sa amin wala kaming nakitang nagawa nila, yun BTA,” he added.
Tan said Ebrahim’s administration failed to uplift the living condition of the poor in BARMM and has no tangible project to show despite the huge amount of money they are operating.
“So una, kaya sila nandidyan ang sabi nila they want to help improve and develop not only the province of Sulu, but the whole region and yet we have not seen anything other than the P5 million they gave us to mitigate this Covid-19 pandemic, and they gave P1 million each for all of the mayors for the same purpose.”
“Other than that we do not know of any development efforts dito sa ating probinsya. At least in the case of the province of Sulu, we have not. We do not feel anything, in fact the situation has even deteriorated considering that they have fired or they have terminated the services (of 550 employees) of the different line agencies of government here in the province of Sulu, other than those personnel in the Departments of Health, Education and Social Services. All the rest ay inalis nila po and lagi po namin sinasabi sa kanila na dapat palitan nila na kaagad. But it has taken them so much time and up to now out of the 600 vacancies as a consequence of the termination ay 64 po lamang, ang na-hire nila. Even sa Department of Education kahit isang teacher po wala pa silang naha-hire, so do we allow our people to continue suffering like this?” Tan asked.
Tan said Ebrahim has not even convened the Council of Leaders comprising all 5 governors and city mayors of the BARMM for a still unknown reason.
Now, Tan suggested placing Sulu under the supervision of the Office of the President so the province can move forward in terms of peace and development. Previously, Tan said they wanted to return to the Western Mindanao region which Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi were originally part of.
“I was proposing kung puwede kaya ilagay natin ang Sulu directly under the Office of the President parang i-pilot lang ba na kung gumanda ang sitwasyon sa Sulu and nag-improve at maging developed ay dapat sumama na sila (BARMM) sa akin ngayon kung talagang sincere sila na gusto nilang umayos yun mga kababayan nila, yung mga kapwa nila, kapatid nila dito sa Sulu, at kung hindi gumanda babalik na lang ako sa kanila,” Tan said.
He said at least 3 governors in the BARMM and their mayors are also opposing the BARMM, BTA extension and three more governors and lawmakers are joining them to call for elections. “Ang tatlong governors (sa BARMM) and most of the mayors in Lanao (del Sur), and I was told that all of the mayors in Sulu out of 19, 16 and members of Provincial Board all and then of course in Basilan, all. And then yung governors, tatlo na kame, and there are only five governors in BARMM, but we expect three more and that will make us six.” Tan said.
Tan said his constituents and those in other provinces see bigger problems ahead if the MILF-led BARMM and BTA continue to insist on holding to power without mandate or elections.
“Sa tingin ko lalo tayong magkaka-problema kasi it will become an endless problem in trying to accommodate (the MILF) every time they tell us, and we feel like are we hostage? Sa lahat ng request nila na hindi tama or outside or what has been agreed especially in the BARMM law, are we hostage to these people? We do not have to accommodate all of their requests, every time they say this and they say that, we accommodate. We should not be held hostage by whatever reason that they have. Huwag tayo magpapa-hostage sa ano mang grupo. Hindi tayo papayag. Hindi papayag ang taong bayan na maging hostage. Kawawa yung taong bayan. Ako, I will not allow myself to become their hostage and I will not allow our people to become their hostage. Yan po ay ipaglalaban namin,” he said.
Just over the weekend, Tan and other BARMM governors and North Cotabato officials and mayors met with Senators Francis Tolentino and Juan Miguel Zubiri and Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman and Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, and Defense Chief Delfin Lorenzana for a consultative meeting with Ebrahim in Davao City. (Mindanao Examiner)
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