COTABATO CITY, Philippines, 8 December 2002 — Officials of the government agency in Mindanao that was deactivated amid graft allegations said they will complain to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Cotabato City mayor Muslimin Sema said the deactivation of the Southern Philippine Development Authority (SPDA was a “gross violation” of the peace pact signed in 1996 between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
“What will happen now to the MNLF community and existing development programs outside of the ARMM. Who will now take over or pursue these development program?” asked Sema, who chaired the agency’s Board of Directors until its virtual abolition.
The SPDA was created as a result of the peace pact, which ended more than two decades of hostilities between the MNLF and the government. It was supposed to cover the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, or ARMM, and some southern provinces and cities not part of the autonomous region.
Nur Misuari, the MNLF’s long-time chairman and founder, was appointed chairman of the SPDA in concurrent capacity as ARMM governor until he was kicked out last year as MNLF chairman by his own lieutenants calling themselves the Council of 15.
After his ouster as MNLF chairman and with his term as ARMM governor over, Misuari’s armed followers mounted a disastrous uprising in the southern island of Jolo and in Zamboanga City, resulting in the death of many of them and a number of civilians.
A reorganization that followed saw Mayor Sema assuming the SPDA chair and Mujahab Hashim, another “Council of 15” member, was named administrator.
Barely a year passed after their appointment when SPDA Board and executive officials faced each other in court, with Sema and his directors accusing Hashim of scams while Hashim accused them of interfering in his functions.
Then came Executive Order No. 149 issued by President Gloria Arroyo declaring the agency deactivated to give way to an overall “czar” overseeing economic development in Mindanao.
Hashim blamed Sema of influencing Malacañang Palace of issuing the order but Sema denied that. “In fact it came to us as a bombshell,” he said during an interview with radio DXMS here.
There was no prior consultation whatsoever with the MNLF Council of 14, he added.
Sema said he himself will bring the issue to the attention of the OIC since it was the Council that helped broker the 1996 peace pact.
Still, he said, they are also pursuing the idea of holding a special meeting of the members of the SPDA Board to come out with a stand and issue their own recommendations to the president.
In abolishing the SPDA, President Arroyo said the existence of the agency only resulted “overlapping of functions.”
Sema said they could not see why. “To whom and how does its overlap? he asked.
