First Duterte sortie in ARMM capitol stir public euphoria

COTABATO CITY --- The euphoria stirred by Saturday’s visit here of President Rodrigo Duterte has not waned yet and folks keep hyping his promise to help the Moro people bounce back from underdevelopment.What fascinated leaders of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) who helped him launch here on Saturday various programs meant to address poverty in the local communities was his repeated mention of having had a Maranaw grandmother.There is a big Maranaw population in ARMM, which covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in Central Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu on Tuesday said what impressed him most was Duterte’s optimism he can put a peaceful closure to the now four-decade Mindanao secessionist conflict. No one can understand the problem better than a Mindanaon. Allah gave us a Mindanaon president, of mixed Visayan, Maranaw and Lumad ancestry, to hasten the Mindanao peace process, Mangudadatu said.While at the ARMM capitol here Saturday afternoon, Duterte talked about Moro dignity, mentioning explicitly the bigotry and prejudices against Muslim communities in the country.He was applauded when he said all Filipinos shall be treated equally and fairly by his administration, regardless of ethnic identities and religions. While others treat us with extreme bigotry, he understands what we have been through in the hands of colonizers, Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Sandra Sema said on Tuesday.Sema, now in her third term as congressional representative of the first district of Maguindanao, said it is for Duterte’s simplicity and attachment to the Moro people that residents in towns and all barangays in Cotabato City she is representing in Congress supports his anti-narcotics campaign wholeheartedly. We are thankful to the President for coming over. His first ever presidential sortie in the ARMM capitol in Cotabato City reaffirmed his commitment to the peace process. It was a `big hit' so to speak, Sema said.ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman on Tuesday said he and his constituents and members of his regional cabinet were touched by Duterte’s having committed huge monetary grants needed to sustain peace and development initiatives in the autonomous region and in Administrative Regions 9, 10 and 12 during his visit here last Saturday.Also present in Saturday's event were Representatives Ruby Sahali of Tawi-Tawi, Monir Arbison of Sulu and Governors Jim Hataman of Basilan and Rashidin Matba of Tawi-Tawi.Duterte assured of P500 million worth of funding for productivity interventions in farming communities in underdeveloped areas in the Mindanao three regions.He also promised to provide scholarship assistance to 60,000 college and vocational technology students in the autonomous region.The president also allocated funds for special projects of ARMM’s health and agriculture departments and for the electrification of remote villages in the autonomous region. We are grateful to President Duterte. We fully support his peace and development agenda for the Moro communities, Hataman said.Hataman, in a welcome message, told Duterte the autonomous region was borne by the deaths of thousands of Moro guerillas who fought for self-governance during the 1970s in an uprising that left more than 100,000 civilians dead and dislocated millions more. The creation of this autonomous region was paid dearly in blood, sweat and tears of the people who fought for self governance and an identity, Hataman saidHataman, reelected to a second term during the May 9, 2016 regional polls, said they were impressed with Duterte’s being proud of having Moro blood. It has been three days since his visit but the euphoria among many ARMM folks continued, Hataman’s deputy, Regional Vice Governor Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman, also a Maranaw from Lanao del Sur, told and//www.ndbcnews.com.ph/ www.ndbcnews.com.ph on Tuesday.Duterte won overwhelmingly in Lanao del Sur during the May 9, 2016 presidential race, defeating rivals with a wide vote margin.He also beat with irreversible leads other presidential candidates in all of Maguindanao's 36 towns, where there are dozens of government-recognized enclaves of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. I won by a big landslide in all Moro areas during the elections, Duterte told ARMM officials whom he addressed while at the ARMM compound on Saturday.