Reelected Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan has asked the government to consider abolishing the five-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), saying it has failed to address problems like poverty and crime in the widely-dispersed territory. In a letter to President Benigno Aquino III dated Aug. 20, Tan said he supports the “clamor” of his constituents and other local officials to abolish the two-decades old ARMM and “revert the region back to the mainstream national system.” “The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has been there for the last 22 years. Peace, public order and development continue to elude us. Our people remain poor. Our communities continue to be distraught by lawless violence,” the Sulu governor said. He described the autonomous region in the predominantly Muslim provinces in the south as “a classic example of a pathetic and useless tier in government.” The ARMM was created in 1989 though Republic Act 6734, which was passed in accordance with Article X, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution providing for the creation of an autonomous region in Mindanao. Five provinces – Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan – were included in the region after a plebiscite conducted after the law was passed.
