PGMA's Speech during a Meeting with ARMM Officials and Employees

Shariff Kabunsuran Cultural Center, Cotabato (13 June 2003)
May I exercise my prerogative as President of the Philippines to preside over this meeting.

Governor Parouk Hussin and the other officials of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao; our friends, the ambassadors of the various countries who loved Muslim Mindanao, and let me acknowledge them -- we have the Ambassador from Libya, Ambassador Salem Adam; we have the Ambassador from Malaysia, Ambassador Taufik Mohd Noor; we have the Ambassador from the U.S., Ambassador Frank Ricciardone; we have the Ambassador from Bangladesh, Munir Uz-zaman; we have the Ambassador from Brunei, Ambassador Paduka Haji Elias; and we have the Charge d' Affaires of Indonesia, Mr. Alexander Laturiuw; Mayor Muslimin Sema and the other officials of Cotabato City; Mr. Vance Pulley, Country Representative of the World Bank; aking mga Cabinet members na narito; mga kababayan:

I'm very happy that we have the OIC Ambassadors here today. They've been with us since yesterday. They went with us to two remote towns of Maguindanao this morning. They went with us to a remote Barangay of Cotabato City this afternoon, but we specifically invited them for this particular part of our day. This afternoon, we would like to complete the compliance of the Philippine government with the Tripoli agreement way back in 1976.

One of the requirements of the Tripoli agreement is providing for the ARMM unified command. And this is the first promulgation I would like to make. I would like to read before you -- kasi ang dahilan kung bakit inuuna sana 'yung adjutant kasi magdidiskurso pa ako mamaya sana. Hindi na, eto na ang pinaka-importante... Eto na ang pinaka-diskurso ko. Huwag na kayo maghintay mamaya.

I would like to read Executive Order 212 which I myself signed. The title is "Providing for the Organization of the ARMM Unified Command, Southern Command, Armed Forces of the Philippines for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao." may I now read the contents: whereas, section 21, article 10 of the 1987 Constitution provides that the defense and security of the autonomous region shall be the responsibility of the national government;

Whereas, under section 4 Republic Act 6734 as amended by R.A. 9054, the defense and security of the ARMM shall be the responsibility of the national government towards this end, a regional command of the AFP shall be organized in accordance with national laws;

Whereas, to ensure the well-being and security of the inhabitants of Muslim Mindanao, it may be necessary to station and deploy therein such elements of the armed forces as may be necessary in the area of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Now, therefore, I, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order section 1. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared policy of the state that the defense and security of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao shall be the responsibility of the national government.

Section 2. ARMM unified command. There is hereby created and organized an ARMM unified command under the southern command, Armed Forces of the Philippines which shall be organized, maintained and utilized in accordance with national laws. Now, let me read a sentence to comply with the spirit and letter of the 1976 Tripoli agreement. Qualified inhabitants from the ARMM shall be given preference for assignment in the said unified command.

Section 3. Command relationship. The ARMM unified command shall be under the direct supervision and control of the commander, Southcom- AFP. The Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall determine the command relationship between Southern command-AFP, the ARMM unified command, and AFP-wide support units of the major services operating in Southern Philippines. This has not been done but with my instructions today, this is the one that will trigger that process.

Section 4. Calling upon the armed forces notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding sections, the regional governor of the ARMM may request the president to call upon the armed forces of the Philippines: a) to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion where the public safety so requires in the autonomous region in accordance with the provisions of the constitution; b) to suppress the danger to or breach of peace in the autonomous region or the regional police force is not able to do so; or c) to avert any imminent danger to public order and security in the autonomous region. The president may on his/her own accord send the Armed Forces of the Philippines to the autonomous region to attain the above stated objectives if the regional governor does not act within 15 days up to the occurence of the threats mentioned above.

Section 5. Regional emergency. In times of regional emergency all elements of the regional police force -- which has already been established in a previous Executive Order, by the way. So, this is the twin, this is the military twin of the police regional force -- the Regional Bureau of Fire Protection and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology shall upon direction of the President or the Regional Governor assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines in meeting the emergency. As you can see in this provision, the President of the Philippines shares part of her work as Commander-in-Chief with the regional governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

Number 6. Implementing rules. The DND in coordination with the Autonomous Regional government particularly the ARMM-DILG shall formulate the rules and regulations implementing this order. The Secretary of National Defense and all concerned AFP officials and officers are hereby directed to extend their fullest assistance and cooperation to the autonomous regional government of the ARMM to ensure the implementation of this order.

Section 7 is the separability clause, which is the usual.

Section 8 is the repealing clause.

And section 9 is the effectivity.

So this is one of the actions to complete an agreement that was forged almost 40 years ago but somehow we were afraid to trust the regional government of Muslim Mindanao. Now, we are not afraid to trust the regional government of Muslim Mindanao. Another expectation from the Tripoli agreement is the establishment of the Shariah court. I think is only one. Correct, one justice for its courts, but they are not filled up. They are not occupied.

So, I am hereby constituting a search committee to look for the appropriate justice and judges to head the Shariah courts. The search committee will be headed by the governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Governor Parouk Hussin and the Secretary of Justice who also comes from Muslim Mindanao, Secretary Sim Datumanong.

The third expectation of the Tripoli agreement that we want to comply with is that the ARMM Governor should have Cabinet rank. Now, of course, that was in another Constitution at that time, 1976. Right now, if you're an elected official, you cannot sit in the cabinet because those are made up of appointive officials. However, I have signed an executive order that provides for the Governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to regularly sit with the Cabinet at all Cabinet meetings as an adviser.

I hope with these three provisions, the political aspects that are part of the expectation of the... The political and security aspects that form the most difficult parts of the expectations from the 1997 Tripoli agreement will be considered as fully implemented.

Now, I would like to call the adjutant to do the next step in implementing the executive order that I gave and that is the promulgation.

Thank you very much. That is my speech.

(The adjutant speaking)

PGMA: "pwede bang makialam na naman?"

Adjutant: "ah, okay."

PGMA: our next event... Because what we did now is with regard to peace; it's with regard to the military; with regard to the justices; with regard to the authority of the Autonomous Region Governor in the Cabinet. The next thing we will do is with regard to development, and that is the funding of the development of ARMM through the ARMM social fund. So, our next event is a board meeting of the ARMM social fund. Well, in this particular meeting, I will myself chair it personally.

So, thank you very much for coming and now we will all proceed... I mean, we will proceed to the board meeting.

Thank you.

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