Lawmakers hit inclusion of Deles

LAWMAKERS on Wednesday opposed the inclusion of presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles in a pa

nel that will choose officers-in-charge for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where elections will be postponed to 2013. “She’s definitely not credible,” Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas IV said.

“She should undergo a neuro exam first.” Cagas said it was Deles, who served in the same capacity under the Arroyo administration, who recommended Zaldy Ampatuan as governor of the autonomous region. The former governor and other members of his powerful clan are accused of carrying out the massacre of 58 civilians in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

Deles’ involvement in choosing appointed local officials was also opposed by San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito, Zambales Rep. Maria Milagros Magsaysay, and Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus, who all said she did not deserve to be part of the selection process