Capitol of country’s second poorest province has Jacuzzi!
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao (MindaNews/11 December) -- The Office of the Provincial Governor of the country’s second poorest province on the third floor of this peach and pink palatial building with an “ala CCP” driveway that leads to the second floor, has three living room sets, a conference table for 16, a huge executive desk with a leather swivel for the governor and leather chairs for guests, a toilet exclusively for the governor’s use, a center table for flowers and a door that leads to a room with a bed (and a refrigerator with several bottles of softdrinks), that leads to an alley where you can find to your left, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi whirlpool tub.
Going up to the third floor. Left to the Governor's Offfice. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
The executive table. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
Three sofa sets. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
The conference table for 16. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
The bedroom adjacent to governor's office. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
Jacuzzi tub. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
The alley leads to the dining area for eight (after the bathroom) where china and other silverware are kept inside a cabinet, and where a door leads to the bigger conference room, for 26.
Dining table. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
Beside the dining room, separated by a wall, one finds the kitchen and fronting it, a space that has become, for the moment, a storeroom for stackable plastic chairs and tables.
Going up to the third floor. Left to the Governor's Offfice. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
The executive table. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
Three sofa sets. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
The conference table for 16. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
The bedroom adjacent to governor's office. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
Jacuzzi tub. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
The alley leads to the dining area for eight (after the bathroom) where china and other silverware are kept inside a cabinet, and where a door leads to the bigger conference room, for 26.
Dining table. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo
Beside the dining room, separated by a wall, one finds the kitchen and fronting it, a space that has become, for the moment, a storeroom for stackable plastic chairs and tables.
Outside the door from the “storeroom,” one finds an escape route: a stairway to the left which leads to a driveway three floors down, on the side where the provincial gym is. If you don’t want to go down that route, there’s another door to the right outside the “storeroom” that leads to another bedroom that opens to the Office of the Provincial Administrator which is also linked to the third and last office on the third floor: the Office of the Provincial Budget.
The Provincial Governor’s Office appears well-preserved. The maroon leather sofa, the sofa behind it upholstered in fabric and the Cheers recliner sofa appear new. The conference appears unused and the beds’ upholstery in the adjacent room and in the room adjacent to the Administrator’s are still wrapped in plastic.
Maguindanao Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr. is rarely seen in this office, preferring the provincial government’s “satellite office” or “sub-office” within the compound where his mansion is. From his mansion to the provincial capitol is only about 400 meters.
The provincial capitol used to be in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindano, along the Davao-Cotabato highway but citing security reasons and an alleged ambush, Ampatuan Sr., elected governor in 2001 and reelected in 2004 and 2007, opted to have the capitol moved to Shariff Aguak.
The new capitol was opened shortly before the May 2007 elections. Then, the provincial Commission on Elections office was still on the ground floor. Maguindanao provincial administrator Norie Unas was seen more often in the capitol, the governor going there only during special functions or when receiving dignitaries.
But the capitol was inaugurated formally only on March 27 this year when Ampatuan Sr., had resigned as governor and his vice governor son, Sajid, was appointed acting governor (the patriarch resigned, claiming he had no mandate from constituents of Shariff Kabunsuan, the province that the Supreme Court said was created in violation of the Constitution and which should be returned to Maguindanao; another view on the resignation is that doing so would allow the patriarch to run for governor of the reconstituted Maguindanao since he did not complete his third term).
With 22 Maguindanao towns and 11 Shariff Kabunsuan towns, the total number of towns of what earlier this year they referred to as New Maguindanao is 33 plus three other new towns created – for a total of 36.
President Arroyo personally came to inaugurate the P218-M provincial capitol, P25 million o which came from the President’s Social Fund on March 27.
President Arroyo personally came to inaugurate the P218-M provincial capitol, P25 million o which came from the President’s Social Fund on March 27.
The provincial capitol compound used to be heavily guarded by police and the governor’s armed Civilian Volunteers’ Organizaiton.
In the elections of 2007, some journalists were barred entry into the capitol where the elections office is.
Source:Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews.com
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What a shame! How can a decent person sleep soundly in such a magnificent house surrounded with luxuries when he knows that outside people are poor, hungry and miserable.