ARMM department uses savings for 'Ramadan gift' to employees

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The natural resources department of the  Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has provided a "Ramadan gift" of one sack of rice each to its 346 employees from its "savings".

Kahal Kedtag, regional secretary of the ARMM’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, led the distribution over the weekend of rice coupons entitling Muslim and Christian employees to get a 50-kilogram bag of rice each from a local supplier.

The funds used for the procurement of the DENR-ARMM’s Ramadan rice gift was drawn from the agency’s savings.

The DENR-ARMM was considered, before the December 2011 assumption of Mujiv Hataman as the region’s appointed caretaker, as the third most mismanaged agency in the regional government, next to the education, and public works departments, respectively.

Hataman was elected as the sixth governor of the autonomous region in the May 2013 polls.

Previous DENR-ARMM officials  had also been accused of embezzling premiums for the Government Service Insurance System.

Kedtag said the grant of the Ramadan rice gift would be duplicated in next year’s fasting season if there are enough savings in their treasury.

The Islamic Ramadan season started on June 29, and shall end on the third week of July, upon the sighting of the new moon, based on the Hijrah lunar calendar.

Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the Ramadan both as a religious obligation and to inculcate among them the importance of self-restraint to achieve spiritual perfection. - John Unson