Anak Mindanao congressional rep wins international public award

COTABATO CITY -- Bangsamoro women were elated with the Asia HRD Award Anak Mindanao Party-list Rep. Sitti Djalia Hataman received in Manila Tuesday night from an international entity based in Malaysia.The grant of the Asia HRD recognition to community leaders and private individuals from Asian countries is a yearly event.The selection of awardees is based on their involvement in good governance, protection of human rights and other activities meant to empower communities.Hataman, who is of mixed Tausog and Yakan descent, received a movers and shakers award” from the Asia HRD Hall of Fame Awards for her involvement in activities promoting the socio-economic and political advancement of Muslim, Christian and Lumad sectors in Mindanao.She was one of nine Asia HRD awardees from different Asian countries for this year.The Asia HRD citations were pioneered in 2003 by a multinational group based in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.Among the Filipinos to have received an award from the group was former President Fidel Ramos. The award received by Congresswoman Hataman was a tacit recognition of the active presence of Bangsamoro women in Philippine society. We are not bereft of women who are just as talented and competitive like the women in other areas in the country,” said Amihilda Sangcopan, regional secretary of the agrarian reform department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).Two senior employees of the ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information, Naila Salik and Irene Gonzales, said they were both elated with Hataman’s having been granted such an award by a prestigious award-giving body. Because she belongs to the Bangsamoro community, honor goes to all Bangsamoro women too,” Salik said.A total of 185 government officials and private individuals from 18 countries had been granted with the same awards in the past 12 years by organizers.Hataman, spouse of ARMM’s incumbent chief executive, Mujiv Hataman, was first elected to a slot in the Amin Party-list in 2013.She was elected to another congressional party-list term last May 9, 2016, along with a second nominee, lawyer Makmod Mending, former ARMM agriculture secretary.