Lady lawyer named 1st ever prosecutor for Moro region

COTABATO CITY --- The local communities were elated with the appointment of lawyer Rohairah Ampuan Lao as first ever female regional prosecutor for five Moro provinces grouped as an autonomous region.

Never has the national government designated a woman as regional prosecutor for predominantly Muslim provinces in the south since the dawn of Moro autonomy in the 1970s.

The appointment of Lao, who hails from Lanao del Sur, as regional state prosecutor, or RSP, for the Bangsamoro region, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, took effect late July.

Lao, provincial prosecutor for Maguindanao since February 2016, took over from the now retired RSP Ramy Guiling, who is also from Lanao del Sur.

She took her oath on July 23 as RSP for the still 28-month Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that replaced the 29-year Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in February 2019.

Never has a woman become an RSP for Moro provinces since the inception by President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s of Moro autonomy, first under the Office of the Regional Commissioner and, subsequently, the Lupong Tagapagpaganap ng Pook for Regions 9 and 12.

Among the first to express appreciation of Lao’s appointment as RSP for BARMM was the Women’s Organization of Rajah Mamalu Descendants representing the women in the non-Moro indigenous Teduray community in central Mindanao.

“That, for us, is an inspiration,” the group said in a statement Sunday.

Peace activists in central Mindanao lauded via Facebook posts the Department of Justice for installing Lao as RSP for BARMM following Guiling’s retirement from government service.

Women in the cross-section Regional Advisory Council of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and the Multi-Sector Advisory Board of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division Army told reporters Sunday they are grateful to the DOJ for appointing Lao as RSP for the Bangsamoro region.

Lao became popular while still  Maguindanao’s provincial prosecutor for having secured convictions for crimes against women and children and for high-profile drug trafficking and other criminal cases.

BARMM Local Government Naguib Sinarimbo, spokesperson of the regional government, said they are ready to extend allowable support to the office of the new RSP.

Sinarimbo, also a lawyer, said while functions and powers of the DOJ are not devolved to BARMM, it is incumbent upon them to support the operation of its offices in the core territory of the Bangsamoro region.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. and Mayor Majul Gandamra of Marawi City, where Lao is to hold office, also separately assured to help forge ahead with her functions as RSP for BARMM.