COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Maguindanao del Norte Governor Abduraof Macacua has called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appoint eight members of the new province’s legislature so the provincial government could start to function.

Macacua asked officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to help in speeding up the appointment process.

A transition team created by Macacua has started compiling a list of people who would be recommended for appointment to Malacanang.

“We have to first organize the Sangguniang Panlalawigan because we need to create positions. Since Maguindanao del Norte is a new province, the provincial government has no employees yet. The creation of such positions would need to be approved by the provincial board,” said Macacua.

BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said only the President can appoint members of the provincial board upon the recommendation of the Maguindanao del Norte governor and vice governor, and the province’s representative to the Lower House.

“Provincial board members must be appointed as soon as possible because the appropriation ordinance will have to be passed by the provincial board,” said Sinarimbo.

Sinarimbo said the new provincial board would also need to pass a resolution to authorize Macacua to open a bank account for the provincial government. 

Only then can the national government transfer the National Tax Allocation (NTA) share of Maguindanao del Norte to the provincial government, he said.

Macacua has met with former Maguindanao provincial employees who were seeking to work in the Maguindanao del Norte provincial government. They had given up their old positions to join former Maguindanao vice governor Fatima Ainee Sinsuat whom they had presumed would be recognized by the national government as the new province’s first governor.

Marcos appointed Sinsuat as officer-in-charge of the Office of the Vice Governor of Maguindanao del Norte instead.

Macacua said, “I learned that there were no documents for their transfer to Maguindanao del Norte. They were just dismissed, which was illegal. We are now processing their transfer through legal means.”

The OIC governor has called for unity among the province’s politicians, saying he would reach out to local political groups “in the spirit of reconciliation, and as a matter of policy in pushing for a moral governance strategy.”

On Thursday night, April 13, Macacua was publicly seen meeting with Datu Odin Sinsuat Mayor Lester Sinsuat and former Talayan mayor Ali Midtimbang, a development that surprised many in Maguindanao del Norte.

Lester is the husband of OIC Vice Governor Sinsuat, while Ali Midtimbang is the father of Maguindanao del Sur OIC Vice Governor Nathaniel Midtimbang. 

Photos of the meeting were circulated on social media, but details were not made public. 

The Sinsuats and Midtimbangs are staunch political allies of Maguindanao del Sur Governor Mariam Mangudadatu who has objected to her and Macacua’s appointment as OIC governors of the two provinces.

Mangudadatu has refused to take her oath as an OIC, saying Marcos violated the 2021 law that divided Maguindanao into two political territories. – Rappler.com

Ferdinandh Cabrera is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow.