WITH about 100 persons—mostly politicians—offering themselves to President Benigno Aquino 3rd for the governorship of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), it cheers us to note that one of the names being mentioned is that of a technocrat and non-politician.
This is the incumbent Agrarian Reform Region XI Director Datu Yusoph Boyog Mama who comes from Lanao del Sur. Director Mama is the longest serving Department of Agrarian Reform regional executive since the creation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) during the term of the late President Corazon Aquino. He is admired for his track record. He has met and even surpasses CARP land distribution targets in every area he has been assigned to.
Datu Mama has also been a commercial attaché, in Nigeria and Austria. He was also an Economic Adviser-Designate to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A development that might raise Datu Mama’s chances of getting President Aquino’s nod is the endorsement he has received from the Mindanao Business Council (MinBC), which is highly thought of as the foremost business organization in Mindanao. Based in Davao City, the MinBC has thrown its full support to this Muslim technocrat and eschewed the politicians aspiring for the ARMM governorship.
Vicente Lao, chairman of MinBC and a member of the President’s delegation to China, wrote a letter in behalf of his organization endorsing Datu Mama. He told The Times correspondent Julmunir Jannaral that the business community in Mindanao has chosen Datu Mama over politicians because they are impressed with his track records and capability to institute the much-needed governance reforms in the ARMM.
Lao also told The Times that MinBC’s choice of Datu Mama is because MinBC completely supports the good-governance thrusts of President Aquino in the ARMM. Datu Mama is also the president of the National Council of Career Executives Service Organizations. His experience and expertise in management is what must be transmitted to the other officials of ARMM and the provinces that comprise the autonomous region.
MinBC also told The Times that Datu Mama’s being a technocrat and aware of the economic aspects of development will help in making the region undergo a holistic transformation.
The Muslim technocrat also has the royal title of Masirikampo sa Marawi (traditional ruler of the royal confederation of Marawi).
Adel Tamano
Another worthy name mentioned for the ARMM governorship is Atty. Adel Tamano. He is also really a non-politician, his true calling being that of an educator.
He distinguished himself in his years as president of the Pamantasan ng Maynila. Tamano is the eighth son of the late Senator Mamintal Tamano and civic leader Hadja Putri Zorayda Abbas Tamano. Senator Tamano was among the outstanding lawmakers in the Senate from 1969 to 1972 and again in 1987 to 1992.
Whoever is appointed OIC governor of ARMM—and OIC leaders of the ARMM provinces—will have a tremendous impact on the future of Mindanao—as well as the future of entire Philippine Republic.
