Top ARMM bet has pending case, DOJ admits

MANILA, Philippines - There is still a pending appeal on the dismissed case against former Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Mujiv Hataman in connection with the 2007 bomb attack at the Batasan Pambansa, but Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said this is not likely to affect his appointment as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“The complaint against Mujiv Hataman was, after preliminary investigation, dismissed in 2008. But there’s a pending petition for review, which is up for resolution,” De Lima said yesterday.

Because the results of the preliminary investigation showed no probable cause against Hataman, the pending appeal will not, for now, be a stumbling block to his appointment as OIC, De Lima said. 

The DOJ still has to decide if it will uphold the findings of the investigating fiscals.

“That’s why I want it immediately resolved so as to settle the matter once and for all,” De Lima said.

The families of Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar and four congressional staffers killed in the Nov. 13, 2007 blast filed charges of multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder, and multiple physical injuries against Hataman.

Hataman and his brother Jim were cleared by the DOJ after three suspects – Ikram Indama, Caidar Aunal and Adham Kusain – recanted their testimonies tagging the Hatamans as alleged masterminds in the bombing.

Aunal and Kusain claimed they were coerced and tortured into making their earlier statements by investigators of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Former Basilan congressman Abdulgani Salapuddin was initially earlier cleared of involvement in the bombing but was later on charged in court after a review by the Court of Appeals.

Hataman is reportedly the frontrunner among the candidates for ARMM OIC. Also being considered are Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, former deputy interior secretary Saidamen Pangarungan, Ali Sanchez, Lanto Makabangkit, Saidamen Pangarungan, Dimas Pundato and Norma Sharief.

President Aquino is expected to appoint OICs in ARMM after the Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday the constitutionality of Republic Act 10153, the law synchronizing the ARMM elections with the May 2013 midterm elections.

A majority of eight justices, including Aquino’s two new appointees Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe, affirmed the power of Congress to allow the President to appoint OICs in ARMM.

De Lima, a former election lawyer supporting election reforms in the ARMM, praised the SC ruling.

“Postponing the ARMM elections and synchronizing it with the national elections in 2013 will accord the government and ARMM people alike with the opportunity to make a clean break from the abuses of the past and rebuild the region from the ground up,” she said.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles welcomed the SC decision, saying this “brings the Aquino administration’s reform agenda in Mindanao.”

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, however, intends to file a motion for reconsideration questioning the affirmation of the power of Congress to allow President Aquino to appoint OICs in ARMM.

He said ARMM officials should be allowed to continue their functions in “holdover capacity” like what was done when Congress decided to postpone the barangay elections.

‘There is no reason why the same principle and policy could not be applied to ARMM officials in case scheduled polls are postponed,” Macalintal said. “The 8-7 decision on appointment of OICs, if affirmed, will be a bad, if not dangerous precedent.”

He said the appointment of OICs “also defeat the representative character of ARMM officials as provided under the Constitution.” With Jose Rodel Clapano, Sheila Crisostomo