ARMM is now ready for

To most, peace and order is what drags progress in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) largely because an economy cannot move forward if there is no peace. True. But one large component to progress is good governance. There could be peace but if leaders do not practice good governance, progress becomes more elusive. Wrong governance creates chaos. Peace and order is a product of the kind of governance.

Given this premise, the Eisenhower Fellowship has targeted ARMM leaders to be part of its leadership program through mentorship. The fellowship believes the need to address leadership issues for an economy like ARMM to function as it should be.

The Eisenhower Fellowship was established by a group of businessmen in honor of the 34th President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower’s devotion to world peace. The Fellowship is an international leadership exchange program. Filipinos have become part of this fellowship and have contributed to the improvement of the welfare of Filipinos through their roles in the government, military, and private organizations. Among the 2015 Fellows are Louella Oco Pesquera of the Office of the Ombudsman and Santol (La Union) Mayor Daisy Sayangda.

Other Filipinos fellows include film writer and director Omar Ali (2013 Fellow), Sarangani Governor Miguel Dominguez (2009), Army BGen. Carlito Galvez (2006), Ariel Hernandez (2011) and ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman (2014).

ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman became one of the few chosen Eisenhower Fellows in 2014.

Hataman was a transition governor for ARMM in 2011 because President Aquino was bent on synchronizing the ARMM elections with the national election. Hataman said the the idea was to “reform ARMM from being an election cheating capital and rid it of corrupt practices and replace it with good governance practices.”

In the previous ARMM elections, Hataman said votes casted were more than the actual registered voters. So, synchronizing the ARMM election with the national could minimize focus on the local elections. It also provides an opportunity for the people in ARMM to choose the right leader.

“If people can choose the right leader in a clean and credible election process then that would lead to good governance,” he said.

Hataman ran in 2013 and won. Together with the late Local and Interior Secretary Jessie Robredo, Hataman developed a framework based on three agendas: good governance, peace and security, and economic development. Hataman has realized the he needs to focus on governance to make ARMM a functional government.

“Governance is most important because the basic problem of ARMM is governance. ARMM was dysfunctional when we came in,” said Hataman.

With the assistance of Disbursement Acceleration Plan (DAP), Hataman was able to implement some reforms to make ARMM a real functional government.

It was at this juncture that Hataman was encouraged to apply for the Eisenhower Fellowship.

“My friends saw the need for me to have a guide to run ARMM,” said Hataman noting that he needs all the guidance to run ARMM according to his vision of accountability and transparency. Eisenhower is the right place to train officials become good leaders to run and manage the affairs of government.

Despite conflicts in schedule, Eisenhower was kind enough to accommodate Hataman. The 7-week leadership immersion program has created a new leader in Hataman.

Eisenhower, which is composed mostly of Republicans, reciprocated and mentored Hataman based on his three interests on socio-economic development, governance and peace and security.

During the fellowship, Hataman did some research, consumed his time on one on one sessions with leaders including ambassadors, experts in governance, anticorruption and anti-terrorism.

His mentors were themselves involved in the US governance and operatives in other countries. He was able to talk with anti-terrorism experts assigned before in the Middle East.

“The fellowship gives them Fellows an opportunity to see a wider world view with reference to the issues that they are interested in,” said Prof. Ernie Garilao, chairman of The Eisenhower Fellows Association of the Philippines (EFAP).

Garilao, who is also President of the Zuellig Family Foundation, explained that Eisenhower fellows are given an orientation and an assessment. Fellows have easy access to their mentors, who otherwise cannot be accessed easily.

“It opens doors for me,” said Hataman.

Hataman gushed at the guidance he received from the great resource persons, whom he would not have the chance to talk to had he not joined the Eisenhower Fellowship. He was overwhelmed by the lessons he learned from them that changed his leadership framework.

“It is a mentorship based on experience,” said Hataman, who was mentored by the great minds at Eisenhower at the age of 41 and while running the ARMM, a dysfunctional government body he wanted to reform.

Hataman, who used to be street parliamentarian with a leaning towards the left, has abandoned his previous mindset believing that dictatorship is not his kind of leadership.

He read the book “To Lead is To Live Dangerously.” Hataman has learned that to be a successful leader he has to devote 80 percent of his time to his constituents and secondly, he has to listen to his people. ARMM is huge with 116 municipalities and 2 cities. He conducts meetings down to the grassroots regularly. He holds meetings with teachers. ARMM got its ISO certification this year on governance for the first time.

Hataman spends all of his time with his constituents that for the first four months of his life as a governor, he did not go home to his family. He wanted to create an impact.

Now, Hataman is the most accessible governor ARMM has ever had answering his constituents through his Nokia analog model 105 phone.

All appointments go through a competitive examination enabling him to hire the competent and rid of the political patronage that shaped ARMM’s previous appointments. He ended up sparring legal suits but legal suits were expected.

According to Hataman, he was mentored against getting insecure by his smarter people. His mentors taught him “Do not be insecure by your smart people because one of the traits of a good leader is to develop greater and successful leaders because their success is your success as well.”

“What was very critical is the whole issue of listening and being hands on,” said Hataman.

His exacting brand of leadership has somehow rubbed off with the other leaders in ARMM to congressmen and local government leaders. The ARMM Cabinet was alert all the time as Hataman emphasizes transparency at all times.

He was thankful to the leadership gurus at the fellowship for providing the value added and framework shift.

“We transform ARMM to a functional government from a dysfunctional one,” said Hataman.

With good governance and a functional government, ARMM is now ready for business.