LIKE herheroine, Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister of Pakistan, a Muslim nation, Nariman Ambolodto has become a charismatic leader in male-dominated local politics.
“We should disabuse others from this notion that we do not have able Muslim women leaders, and that they are not empowered,” said the assistant secretary of Muslim Affairs and Special Concerns at the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Before joining the national government, Ina, as she is fondly called, replaced Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr. in 2009, after he was arrested for “complicit” in the murder of 58 people, most of them women and members of the press.
Her assumption of a top position in the province during those very trying times was compared to Corazon Aquino’s supplanting deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
With her gentle but firm approach, Ina was able to restore and resume the operation of the provincial government after martial law was lifted.
Ina humbly attributes her foray in politics to destiny. She did not come from a political family and she did not have any political ambitions.
In 2006, a new province, Sharif Kabunsuan, was borne out of Maguindanao. One of its new municipalities was Northern Kabuntalan where Ina was asked to be its founding vice mayor in 2007.
She was also invited to be the only female candidate in the slate of then-officer in charge Gov. Datu Bimbo Q. Sinsuat for the provincial legislative council.
Ina got the highest number of votes for the lone district of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in Shariff Kabunsuan. It used to be the First District of Maguindanao prior to the division of the province. Ina, then a first termer, a Muslim, a woman, from the conflict-affected areas, was also elected as the first Muslim woman vice president of the provincial board member’s League of the Philippines.
When no candidate was proclaimed governor of Sharif Kabunsuan due to election disputes, the elected vice governor Ibrahim Ibay became acting governor, and Ina rose to be acting vice governor.
When Shariff Kabunsuan was dissolved by the Supreme Court and reunited with Maguindanao, Ina continued to represent the constituency of the First District of Maguindanao as a provincial board member.
After her tenure in Maguindanao, the late Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo asked her to join the DILG as assistant secretary.
“I take strength from my brief but colorful experience in local governance, especially after being exposed to the various conditions in Muslim communities,” she said.
Ina hopes to help restore peace, stability and prosperity in the war-torn areas.
She knows whereof she speaks. During the hostilities between the government troops and Moros in the 1970s, Ina’s family lost their home and was uprooted from their province. Still, her parents were resilient, provided support and found means to provide education for her and her siblings.
Ina is also interested in the protection of women and their rights, and their participation in the reconstruction, development and governance of Muslim communities. She looks up to Bhutto as an example who founded an underground movement to resist military dictatorship and restored democracy in Pakistan at the young age of 35.
“Prime Minister Bhutto ably illustrated that women can always rise to the occasion when the situation requires,” she said. “Poverty and conflict also compelled women, even married women, to assume less traditional roles such as earning a living for the family.”
Ina said with the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the enactment of the Bangsamoro basic law, the Muslim provinces will be formed into an autonomous political entity.
Bangsamoro is the collective identity of the Muslim ethno-linguistic groups in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, Ina said.
“We now have a chance to establish another political entity which we hope will preserve, protect and promote the collective and ethnic cultures, rights, welfare and aspirations of the Moro people. As the Bangsamoro moves forward, there will be more prospects and opportunities for women
in governance and development,” she said.
Ina credits her husband for being the proverbial “wind beneath her wings.” He supported her when Ina decided to pursue a graduate course in Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines and become an associate professor at the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City.
Despite her busy schedule, she manages to cook favorite dishes for her family: pasta for their only daughter Bai, and steamed crab, roast beef, and grilled fish for her husband.
At the end of the day, she considers herself a simple Muslim Magindanaw woman from Kabuntalan. “We are a product of our society and the expression of our culture,” she said.
Ayunan G. Gunting / Special to the BusinessMirror