Napolcom’s order anti-Muslim: pols

By LITO RULONA and
BASIR ALIPOLO,
Correspondents,
with NORA SORINO,
GSD-Iligan bureau chief

LOCAL chief executives, mostly in predominantly Muslim areas, on Thursday protested the National Police Commission’s move to clip their powers over the police, calling it a display of prejudice against Muslims in government.

Seven governors and 132 mayors in Mindanao were stripped of their supervisory powers over local police forces for “engaging in acts inimical to national security or which negate the effectiveness of the peace and order campaign of the government; and providing material support to criminal elements.”

The Napolcom order came as clashes between government and Islamic State-linked terror groups continued to clash in strife-torn Marawi City.

Rep. Khalid Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte’s 1st District expressed his disappointment over the Napolcom order, adding that he would make the Commission’s officials explain before the Lower House.

Dimaporo said the Napolcom order put Lanao del Norte in a bad light, given that it is the only province in Northern Mindanao in the list.

“Lanao del Norte is not Northern Mindanao’s black sheep,” he said.

His mother, Lanao del Norte Gov. Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo, is among the 139 local chief executives whose powers were clipped by Napolcom. Twenty-two Lanao del Norte town mayors were also stripped of their powers.

In a news conference, Gov. Dimaporo called Napolcom’s order “a sweeping, unfounded, and baseless withdrawal” of the local executives’ deputization.

She said there was no due process even as she accused Napolcom of being “careless and [of committing] a clear injustice in its ugliest form.”

Gov. Dimaporo called for an investigation to identify who were really coddling terrorists and drug traders in Mindanao as alleged by Napolcom.

To list local executives and clip their powers without an investigation is “unfair,” she said.

The governor said the capitol and town governments in her province have been involved in the strengthening security measures in Lanao del Norte since the May 23 Marawi siege. She said they also made sure no member of the Maute Group would seek refuge in Lanao del Norte.

“We, in Lanao del Norte, are proud to be one if not, the only province in the Philippines to forge true unity between Muslims and Chrsitians. We believe that unity will bring peace, and peace will bring development,” she said.

But despite their efforts, she said the province was put in a bad light by Napolcom.

The governor’s husband, Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte’s 2nd District, said the Napolcom order was “very unfortunate” as it was clearly “against almost all Muslim governors.”

“The move of Napolcom is a biased towards Muslim leaders. Why pick on us, Muslims? Are they saying that we are all bad and Isis members? This is a show of discrimination [towards Muslims]  by a government agency,” he said.

Other prominent local chief executives included in the order were Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and 28 mayors under him; Sultan Kudarat Gov. Pax Mangudadatu and 12 mayors under him; Sulu Gov. Abdusakar Tan II and 13 mayors under him; Basilan Gov. Hadjiman Salliman and 10 mayors under him.

The governors of Lanao del Sur and Tawi-tawi and 46 mayors under them were also in the Napolcom list although the Commission erroneously identified the governors as Mamintal Adiong Jr. and Nurbert Sahali.

The mayor of Cotabato City, Frances Cynthia Sayadi, also lost her powers over the police.

The Interior secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Kirby Abdullah sharply criticized the Napolcom even as he called the list “half-validated.”

Abdullah said the governor of Basilan, for instance, has been rigorously campaigning against terrorism.

The mayor of Upi, Ramon Piang Sr., is multi-awarded but was also listed by Napolcom, and he found that “shocking.”

Armm Vice Gov. Haroun Alrashid Lucman Jr. said the Napolcom resolution was “irrelevant at this time,” adding he feared that it would only weaken counter-terrorism campaigns across Mindanao.