New Maguindanao governor a woman

There’s a different atmosphere in Maguindanao these days. Government officials and soldiers who are believed to be involved in the massacre of 57 persons are in jail if not defanged and out of commission. Then there’s the appointment of a woman, Bai Nariman Ambolodto, as OIC acting governor.  

I really don’t know if the male Muslim populace of the province welcomes the appointment of a woman; but what is sure is that many welcome somebody else’s being on top of things in the province following her designation by DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno and Jess Dureza, presidential adviser on Mindanao Affairs. Her designation to first the vice-governorship follows accepted rules of succession; she had been elected the number one board in the defunct Shariff Kabunsuan province and is currently the board member representing Maguindanao’s first district.

I have little information about the governor, except that she’s not from a political family, and that she is a member of a non-government organization involved in community development.

 One of the first, if not the first, legislator to congratulate her was Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban), who said that the Bai’s “takeover of the reins of the provincial government evinces a sense of hope and relief to the conflict-weary and neglected people of Maguindanao who wish to see meaningful changes and lasting peace after the tumultuous rule of the Ampatuans capped by the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 innocent civilians which was perpetrated in their vicious bid to monopolize power.”

The senator from Mindanao said this early, there are signs that Bai Ambolodto — the first woman governor of Maguindanao — “will be able to effectively and decisively tackle the daunting tasks placed on her shoulders to put the governance in the province on the right path and undo the wrongdoing that her immediate predecessor had committed at the expense of the interest and welfare of the people.”

“I am confident that Acting Governor Ambolodto will live up to the challenge of reforming governance in Maguindanao by weeding out corruption and other malpractices which in the past served as the biggest stumbling blocks to the delivery of essential services and implementation of development projects for the benefit of the people,” he said.

Pimentel said it’s a good thing that Bai Ambolodto is not running for any position in the 2010 election. As it is, she is charged with “the dismantling of machinery for electoral fraud for which the province had gained notoriety when it was ruled by iron hand by the Ampatuans.”

A happy story that needs to be told is that of Helen Terezo, 40, of Cubao, Quezon City. She used to live a dismal life, earning a living by selling cigarettes, but what she earned was not enough to buy food for her children, and pay her household bills. “Sometimes I was only able to bring home coins,” she said. Many times, her children went to bed hungry.

Just when she was almost losing hope, she learned about the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) Kaminero project. She applied for a job, and got accepted as a kaminero assigned in the landscape division in Magallanes, Makati. She earned P231 a day, much higher than what she earned as a vendor. Because she was a good and conscientious worker, her salary was increased to P274 a day. Now she is team leader of the landscaping division in Ayala Mantrade. She is grateful to the agency for giving her a chance to work and earn for her family.

MMDA is a member of the government’s Anti-Hunger Task Force tasked by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to implement the Accelerated Hunger-Mitigation Program (AHMP). MMDA’s major contribution to the AHMP is providing opportunities especially for the poor and the unemployed to be gainfully employed. Through the Kaminero Project, people like Helen Terezo get employed and bring home money to buy food and other necessities for the family. To date, a total of 19,923 people have been employed by the MMDA in various job assignments like street cleaners and sweepers, landscapers, and even traffic assistants. For this year, 391 individuals nationwide have benefitted just from the Kaminero Project.

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Tuesday’s Bulung Pulongan featured two guests playing with the “stars,” or planets, and trusting one’s life in the Lord. The first was Fatima Victa Soriano, a healer, articulate speaker and singer, and messenger of the Lord and Mama Mary. She’s only 15, sings better than Charice, said one newspaperwoman, and is a regular partner of Fr. Jerry Orbos over DZMM’s Saturday afternoon program.

 The only thing is that Fatima is blind. But that is no obstacle to her reaching out and touching people’s lives — in some cases, healing people of ailments. Her parents — her mother is a nurse, and her father, a medical doctor — discovered she had retinal failure a few months after her birth. Deedee Siytangco, BP’s anchorwoman for the day, said she met Fatima when she was only 10 years old, and she was the most charming, happiest girl she met. Today, Fatima is happy that she is alive, she sings at concerts and has produced two CDs. You may contact her at her home at 605 Tabon 3, Kawit, Cavite 4104 or by telephone (046) 484-7915, and CP 0917-4310007.

 The other guest was seeress Zeneida Zeva Ong, who appears regularly on television, and writes a column, on seeing what the planets have to say about people’s future, challenges and obstacles to hurdle. She is no fortune-teller, Zeneida told us, her skill being scientifically-based, and not guess work. At the BP, she chose not to talk about calamities and which political candidate will make it in May.       

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