COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Reigning caretakers of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governance should observe prudence in their official acts and pronouncements in order to fulfill their presidential mandate to introduce meaningful reforms and sustain the gains of peace and unity-building efforts in the region.

Immediate past ARMM officials led by lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo made this appeal as they broke their silence to speak out in defense of their administration from what they lamented as efforts by their successors to “build a better image at the expense of other people.”

Sinarimbo, former ARMM executive, took time at a meeting here Monday night of journalists bracing up for resurging challenges in the local media to clarify point-by-point issues raised by the caretaker-leadership of office-in-charge (OIC)-Governor Mujiv Hataman.

He took exception to repeated remarks by Hataman that his takeover of the regional helm on Dec. 22 was marked by absence of a clear appraisal report on the state of ARMM resources and structures from the preceding administration.

He also belied insinuations by the new officials that the over a decade-old problems of public school teachers’ welfare, on compounded arrears in remittances to GSIS of workers premiums, and on politician-pressured recruitment of bureaucracy personnel that had been left unaddressed by the administration of Acting Governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong.

At the meeting with regrouping journalists, Sinarimbo recalled that on Dec. 21, he and other members of the Adiong regime’s transition team met with their five-man counterpart group of Hataman to ensure a “smooth turnover” the following day.

Surprisingly, he said, more than 30 representatives appeared in the meeting, issuing conflicting suggestions that led to end of the dialogue without reaching a concrete mechanism of turnover.

“They (Hataman representatives) could not agree among themselves on what should happen at the takeover ceremony,” Sinarimbo said.

On the Dec. 22 takeover of Hataman, accompanied by Secretaries Jesse Robredo, Ronald Llamas and Teresita Deles; Sinarimbo said he and the entire outgoing regional cabinet members went to the ceremony venue but Hataman’s staff allowed him alone to enter the venue after briefly haggling.

“There were agreed lists of outgoing officials and journalists who would attend the ceremony, but these were not followed by Hataman’s people manning the Entrance Door. I even almost did not make it inside if not for a loud announcement in the ceremony about my part to deliver a speech spelling out the outgoing administration’s turnover scheme,” Sinarimbo recalled.

He said the outgoing ARMM cabinet members should not be blamed for having not submitted their respective reports and briefed the new officials because they were barred from getting inside the venue that was filled with Hataman’s horde of supporters, he said. (Ali G. Macabalang)