Ex-ARMM regional chief executive, now Basilan governor

COTABATO CITY — The former regional chief executive of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was proclaimed as the elected governor of Basilan in the Bangsamoro region on Wednesday, May 14.

Regional officials of the Commission on Elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao told reporters in Cotabato City on Friday, May 16, that Mujiv Hataman, who is Basilan’s incumbent congressional representative, defeated his nephew, the lawyer Jay Salliman, in the May 12 gubernatorial race in the island province.

Hataman had served as regional governor of the now-defunct ARMM for two terms before his election as congressional representative of Basilan during the 2019 elections.

The 27-year ARMM was replaced in early 2019 with a more politically and administratively empowered BARMM, established via a referendum as a concession to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front based on its peace compact with Malacañang, a product of 22 years of negotiations.

Ray Sumalipao, regional director of Comelec for BARMM, said Hataman was proclaimed elected governor by poll officials at the canvassing site for election returns at the provincial capitol of Basilan. 

Basilan’s now third-termer governor, Hadjiman Salliman, was also proclaimed elected vice governor of the province earlier on the same day.

Hataman’s wife, Sitti Djalia Turabin, got reelected as mayor of Isabela City, election officials confirmed to reporters in Cotabato City on Friday. 

Isabela City is one of the two cities in Basilan that also has 11 towns.