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Palace: ARMM OIC to address illegal logging


A Malacañang official on Monday said illegal logging in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will be one of the concerns that will be addressed by its newly appointed officer-in-charge Mujiv Hataman.   “These concerns on illegal logging will be addressed by the OIC of the ARMM,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a press briefing.   Environment Secretary Ramon Paje had earlier admitted that they have no control over the logging activities in ARMM due to its autonomy.   Rampant illegal logging activities have been blamed for the flash floods that hit Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities in northern Mindanao last Friday night during the onslaught of tropical storm Sendong. More than 600 people have already been confirmed dead, latest government report said.   Hataman took his oath of office before President Benigno Aquino III Monday afternoon. He was instructed to make sure that the reforms Aquino wants in the ARMM are implemented, Lacierda said, noting that it was the government's goal when it postponed this year's election in the ARMM.   “The reason why we went for a synchronization and also, in particular, the ARMM is to make sure that all the excesses of the past, all the corruption be eradicated and make sure that ARMM—as envisioned by the frameworks of the Constitution, by the solons who drafted the Organic Act—would really push to advance the welfare of the people from ARMM,” he said. Hataman, a former congressman, was once implicated in the November 13, 2007 Batasan blast in 2007 that killed six people, including then-Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar. The Department of Justice (DOJ), however, dropped the charges against him.   Lacierda said the former Anak Mindanao party-list representative was chosen by the search committee headed by Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo after undergoing the selection process. “He (Hataman) is a former congressman and he knows the politics and the peoples in ARMM. We believe that he could be a person who can advance the reforms in ARMM,” he said.   He further said that the new ARMM OIC and other officials who will be appointed are expected to advance participatory government.   Lacierda said Hataman promised not to run for the elective post in ARMM after his term expires in 2013. “That is a commitment that we have asked the OIC governor to do so and he will honor that commitment,” he said.                    Malacañang has yet to announce the appointment of other ARMM officials. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News

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