ZAMBOANGA CITY, 6 October 2005 — New Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan appointed yesterday a group of lawyers and respected politicians to form part his Cabinet in the five-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Ampatuan said the new Cabinet members were selected from the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur based on their competence and clean track records. “My administration will work hard for peace and progress and work closely with the governors and other officials of the five provinces under the autonomous region for the benefit of the people,” he told the Arab News.
He appointed Sajid Druz-Ali as Secretary of Agriculture; Alejandre Ampatuan, Sr. as head of the Regional Ports Management Authority; Macacuna Pangandaman as Tourism Secretary, and Ruby Sahali as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Ampatuan also named Alvarez Isnaji as Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology; Tarhata Ampatuan as head of the Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women; Muslimin Jann Jakilan as Labor Secretary and Walid Abubbakar as chairman of the Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission.
Sheryl Bacar Siao was named head of the Regional Board of Investments; Samson Gogo, Bureau of Public Information, and Dr. Udtog Kawit, Department of Education.
He also named a provincial board member in Maguindanao, Oscar Sampulna, as his executive secretary.
Ulama Acad, former municipal administrator of Datu Piang town, was named Chief of Staff of the Office of the Regional Governor and officer-in-charge of the Development Assistance Office.
Lawyer Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi was named as Attorney-General, while lawyer Mustapah Sambolawan was appointed as Cabinet Secretary.
Lawyers Ishak Mastura and Kabuntalan Emblawa have retained their posts as Secretaries of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, respectively.
Ampatuan has vowed to fight corruption in the ARMM, where some P1 billion from insurance premiums of teachers and civil workers are reported missing.
“We will look into the plight of our teachers and workers. We will be transparent in our public dealings,” Ampatuan, who promised a sweeping reform in the first 100 days of his administration, said.
Ampatuan called on his rivals to forget their political differences and join him in leading the autonomous region.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s executive secretary, Eduardo Ermita, said the success of the Muslim autonomous region forms an integral part of the government’s 10-point legacy agenda.
“The success of the ARMM in delivering real autonomy to its people is integral to the success of the president’s 10-point legacy agenda,” Ermita said.
Ermita pledged the government’s full support to the new ARMM leadership, even as he likewise commended the region’s outgoing officials led by Gov. Parouk Hussin for ably steering the socio-economic and political reforms in the region in the past three-and-a-half years.
The 38-year old Ampatuan, the fifth and the youngest to become ARMM governor, is a scion of one of Mindanao’s most respected political clans.
