DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 Nov) – Basilan’s lone Rep. Jum Jainudin Akbar passed away Friday at a hospital in Metro Manila.
Akbar joined politics in 2007 as Basilan’s first female governor, succeeding her husband Wahab, who served for three terms. Wahab was elected Representative, but was killed in a bomb explosion as he was leaving the Batasang Pambansa complex on November 13, 2007.
Akbar was Governor for three terms and was elected Representative in May 2016.
Basilan Rep. Jum Akbar (photo from congress.gov.ph
She was the second Representative from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to have passed away under the 17th Congress. Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong passed away dawn of July 1, also in a hospital in Manila.
In a statement, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman said the regional government “mourns with the people of Basilan.”
“When she was elected to public office for the first time in 2007, one of her priorities was uplifting the lives of farmers — especially rubber farmers — in her province. She was also one of our staunchest partners for peace and development, not only in Basilan but in the entire region,” he said.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to those she has left behind, most of all to her family,” Hataman said.
Akbar was a member of the committees on Agrarian Reform, Basic Education and Culture, Civil Service and Professional Reuglation, East ASEAN Growth Area, Higher and Technical Education, Mindanao Affairs, Muslim Affairs; Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, Public Works and Highways, and Transportation. (MindaNews)
