Macacua’s appointment never questioned in court—Sinarimbo
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 06:30 AM Fri Nov 17, 2023
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By:
Nash B. Maulana
Minister of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo during the press conference on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023 in Cotabato City. (Michael Camsa/BIO)
THE Presidential appointment of Abdulraof Macacua as governor of Maguindanao del Norte has never been questioned in court, but only in the grapevine—colloquially, “marites,” according to Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the Bangsamoro Ministry of the Interior and Local Government.
Sinarimbo, a lawyer, also said the power of the President to appoint local officials, has not yet been questioned in the Supreme Court.
He made the statement at a press conference on Thursday during which a reporter raised a query on whether Macacua should then be “recognized as the legitimate governor of Maguindanao del Norte”?
The question was asked in the context of a new development on the province’s gubernatorial controversy, wherein the Supreme Court Second Division reversed its June 26, 2023 decision on a mandamus case which would inherently compel the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) to appoint one to the position of provincial treasurer.
Sinarimbo said MILG lawyers have assailed the June 26 petition, mandamus being a final remedy available to parties to push for the execution of a court decision, after the contending parties have presented their facts of the case, and the Court has appreciated them in a final decision.
“You would have no choice when you are the recipient of a mandamus order; so we asked the Supreme Court for other available remedies than outright mandamus,” Sinarimbo explained to reporters.
Thus, Sinarimbo said, as to the legitimacy of Macacua’s administration as governor of Maguindanao del Norte, his appointment remains unquestioned from the time President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. handed it over to him and swore him to an oath of public office on April 20, 2023.
However, Sinarimbo said some operational lapses in the past that are now being addressed were the consequences of questions of transitional fiscal authorities on disbursement, pending the appointment of a provincial treasurer.
A treasurer of a local government unit is chosen from among individuals nominated by the chief executive, for appointment by the BLGF under the Department of Finance.