GMA News | December 23, 2012

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu has endorsed a lawyer and a politician to be members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, which is tasked to draft the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law as stipulated in the Framework Agreement signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

President Benigno Aquino III on December 17 signed Executive Order 120 creating the Bangsamoro Transition Commission.

The 15-member commission will be composed of eight members to be selected by the MILF and seven selected by the government from different sectors of the Bangsamoro people.

Mangudadatu endorsed lawyer Suharto Ambolodto, former election supervisor in Maguindanao; and Maguindanao’s 2nd district Representative Simeon Datumanong for the government side.

According to Mangudadatu, Ambolodto and Datumanong, both respected lawyers, can well represent the Moro people in the commission.

Mangudadatu said Peace adviser Teresita Deles has called him up on Friday to ask for endorsements.

Datumanong, Andal Ampatuan Sr.’s nephew, was elected Maguindanao governor in 1973. In 1984, he was elected to the Batasang Pambansa. In 1992, he was elected to the House of Representatives to represent Maguindanao's Second District. In 2001, he became secretary of Public Works and Highways. Two years later, he was Secretary of the Department of Justice. He was reelected to the House of Representatives in 2007 and represents Maguindanao’s second district up to the present.

Meanwhile, Ambolodto had also served in various key positions in the government and in international non-government institutions.

President Aquino would choose from the list of candidates the appointees for the commission.

The government in October signed a landmark peace deal with the MILF. The agreement will create a Bangsamoro Political entity to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which Aquino has described as a "failed experiment."