Hataman, other officials bid farewell to ARMM

COTABATO CITY — Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman and members of his Cabinet on Friday bade farewell to their respective offices, which are set to be replaced by a new set of offices under the Bangsamoro Autonous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Hataman and Vice Governor Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman Jr. were joined by hundreds of rank and file regional government employees for Friday’s flag retreat where they posed for photos beside a giant tarpaulin which bore the message: “Thank you and Goodbye, ARMM.”

Two days earlier, former Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Djalia TurrabinHataman, wife of the ARMM governor, posted on her Facebook page a recollection of her husband’s service in the soon-to-be-abolished regional government.

“(We praise God) for the opportunity given to him to serve ARMM and its people. He was not from any revolutionary front, not from an ethnic group that claim greatness and superiority but instead is a Yakan, who is looked down, even by some Muslim and Moro groups as a lower class tribe. He did not belong to the old rich or old political (or both) clans that have ruled for decades,” Djalia said of her husband.

She added: “(Hataman) is a son of a quiet community leader of a town… even the Basilan people consider a lowly backward municipality. His only claim to the seat he occupied was his consistent, principled stands when he was a young activist and as three-term Anak Mindanao representative in Congress”

“May history be kind to his seven years as public servant in ARMM. And more importantly, may Allah (swt) find him worthy of His Mercy, accept his good deeds and forgive his errors, shortcomings and excesses. It is not important for people to remember him, but may they benefit from the good that he has done, and be protected from unfavorable consequences his actions and decisions may bring, in the near or far future,” the wife said.

Hataman has repeatedly assured that his administration would leave behind a “good legacy” to the upcoming administrators of BARMM.