Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. on Sunday rejected the proposal of a presidential candidate to abolish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Pimentel said former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro's suggestion to scrap the ARMM is no viable solution to the pressing problems confronting the region.

The minority leader said he sees it merely as an attempt by the administration to find a "scapegoat" for the massacre of 57 civilians in Maguindanao in which a known administration ally is implicated.

Pimentel rejected Teodoro's statement that the ARMM is a failure and that its people should decide whether they want to continue an autonomous setup or not.

He said its removal cannot be justified because it is part of the Constitution and part of the government's peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“The ARMM may not be working properly but it is not because the concept of autonomy is wrong or the ARMM law is faulty,” said Pimentel.

Autonomy for ARMM should be upgraded instead of being scuttled or withdrawn, Pimentel said. The senator is one of the principal authors of the law that created the ARMM.

“It needs an improvement. For example, instead of being just an autonomous region, it should be converted into a federal state. That is a vast improvement,” said the senator who is pushing for the adoption of a federal form of government.

“But even as an autonomous region, the fault for the massacre in Maguindanao cannot be attributed to the ARMM.”

It would also be preposterous to disregard ARMM because its people agreed on it through a plebiscite, he said.

Pimentel has proposed the creation of a federal system which will include the creation of a Bangsa Moro federal state to put an end to a monopoly of political power by “imperial Manila."

Its creation is also to pave the way for an equitable utilization and sharing of economic resources and provide the ultimate political solution to Muslim insurgency.

The only major reason of the woes in ARMM is the installation of an inept and abusive leadership in the ARMM region who helped secure President Arroyo's win in the 2004 elections and administration candidates in the 2007 elections, he said.

“The problem is that funds for ARMM are being misused and stolen by unscrupulous officials. What we see is a total breakdown of the system for preventing misappropriation of funds," said Pimentel.