ARMM bets warn voters vs mudslinging tactics, feudal politics

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Candidates in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Friday appealed to voters to listen only to sensible campaign pitches on good governance and ignore satirical discourses and mudslinging feudal politicians do on the stage.

Reelectionist ARMM Vice Governor Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman said he and his running mate, Gov. Mujiv Hataman, will focus on disseminating to voters how participatory governance enabled them to accomplish costly infrastructure projects in the autonomous region in the past three years.

"We will only soberly explain our side if issues are hurled against us, but we will not counter-attack with fiery speeches. We will not attack rival camps with innuendos and baseless accusations either just to start fireworks. That would be counter-productive," Lucman told The STAR.

Lucman said under the Hataman administration, even employees of the regional government are free to post on their Facebook timelines who they want to vote for president down to their choices of candidates for local posts in their respective hometowns.

"I can't imagine that happening if this administration is run by feudal political camps that have zero tolerance for political opposition. We are reformists and we have 'governance through participatory democracy' here. That is the Islamic way of governing people," Lucman said.

Lucman said Hataman and all candidates of the Liberal Party for regional, provincial and municipal positions will launch its ARMM-wide campaign in Lanao del Sur on Saturday, March 26.

The autonomous region covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in Central Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Lucman said LP's launching of its regional campaign shall be hosted by the outgoing Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr., whose third and last term will end on June 30, 2016.

Hataman, Lucman, Adiong and Maguindanao's reelectionist governor, Esmael Mangudadatu, met on Tuesday in Marawi City and agreed on a campaign format that would not irritate rival quarters as part of their effort to ensure peaceful local and regional elections on May 9.

Mangudadatu said they want a campaign scheme where reelectionist officials are to report on the campaign stage what good have they done to their constituents in the past three years or beyond.

"We don't need to attack adversaries to win sympathy of voters. We can simply tell them what have we have accomplished. Voters would know then who are lying and who are talking about real facts," Mangudadatu said.

Mangudadatu said he himself has enough accomplishments to brag about if he would speak on the campaign stage, such as in pioneering a scholarship program in 2011 now benefiting almost 6,000 college scholars.

He also said the People's Medical Team of the Maguindanao provincial government had served more than 100,000 Moro, Christian and lumad medical and dental patients since 2013.

"Those accomplishments are over and above our infrastructure projects the past three years and our having settled more than 50 clan wars from 2013 to December last year.

Hataman, chairman of the regional peace and order council, on Friday told The STAR he had ordered the ARMM police to provide equal protection to candidates whose lives are under threat, regardless of their party affiliations.

"But the security efforts must be coordinated with the Commission on Elections and must have full blessing from the commission to avoid undue legal implications," Hataman said.

A Tausug mayoral candidate of the United Nationalist Alliance campaigning for Hataman, former mayor Akmad Nanoh of Pangutaran town in Sulu, was killed by suspected guns-for-hire in Zamboanga City on March 17.

Hataman's campaign manager in Tawi-Tawi, Mayor Jasper Que of Bongao, was hurt in an ambush also in Zamboanga City last January.

Que was the first local executive to have publicly endorsed Hataman's bid for a second term and vowed to campaign for the ARMM governor in all of Bongao's 35 barangays.

Bongao has more than 40,000 registered voters. The town is the capital of Tawi-Tawi, which is ARMM's southernmost province.