KIDAPAWAN CITY – Former President Cory Aquino is well remembered by people from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as the leader that initiated talks with Moro rebels in the South, which paved way for a series of negotiations with the separatist group after she was catapulted into power through a bloodless ‘People Power’ revolution in 1986.

Lawyer Oscar Sampulna, executive secretary of the ARMM, said it was also during former President Aquino’s time that a strong autonomy was enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.

Early in Mrs. Aquino’s term, she met with Prof. Nur Misuari, chairman of the Moro National Liberation

Front, in Sulu that paved the way for a series of negotiations with the MNLF during her time, according to the Institute for Autonomy and Governance.

The 1987 Constitution provided for the creation of Republic Act 6734 or the Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The law was passed on August 1, 1989, after which the plebiscite was held and four provinces in the South were included in the ARMM – Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-tawi and Sulu.

In 1990, a former member of the MNLF peace panel, Maguindanao lawyer Zacaria Candao, was elected the first ARMM governor.

Three years later, Lininding Pangandaman, an ethnic Maranaw, became the second governor. Misuari, a Tausug, became governor of ARMM on September 9, 1996, days after the signing of the GRP-MNLF final peace pact.

When R.A. 6734 was amended through a plebiscite in August 2001, the province of Basilan and the city of Marawi City were included in the expanded ARMM.

ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, elected as the fourth governor of the region in 2005 and re-elected in 2008, has ordered the Bureau of Madaris Education of the ARMM to lead prayers for former Aquino’s repose during worship rites on Friday.

Ampatuan was also grateful to Aquino for having created in August 1, 1987 the Office on Muslim Affairs, which has been in the forefront of various programs and projects aimed at preserving the religious, political and cultural practices of Filipino Islamic communities.

“We’re deeply saddened by the demise of Mrs. Aquino. We thank her for having done so many good things for the Filipino Muslims,” said Ampatuan.

Sulu Gov. Hadji Sakur Tan said that in the laying down of the ARMM in 1989, there was absolute transparency.

“Former President Aquino consulted many Muslim leaders and representatives of various sectors in Mindanao,” he said.

The ARMM is a creation of the Organic Act that was intended to address grievances of the Bangsamoro against the national government.