26/11/2024
https://philmuslimtoday.com/2024/11/26/bloated-voters-registry-in-maguindanao-town-questioned/
BULUAN, Maguindanao – Former Congressman Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu has appealed to the Commission on Election, particularly Comelec Chairman George Garcia to investigate and rectify the voters’ list in the municipality of Datu Abdullah Sangki (DAS), Maguindanao del Sur, saying that the town’s registered electorate is 33,992 while its population is only 30,117 per 2020 census.
Mangudadatu, a former three-term governor of the undivided Maguindanao and a one-term lawmaker representing the province’s 2nd district told reporters at the sidelight of the 15th anniversary commemoration of the infamous 2009 “Ampatuan massacre” that he was set to file a formal complaint this week before the Comelec.
The town has 24,004 registered voters during the 2022 elections, and the figure mysteriously jumped to 33,992 for the upcoming 2025 elections, the former lawmaker said, citing documentary proof.
DAS is a landlocked hometown of incumbent Maguindanao del Sur Gov. Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu, who got 21,710 votes or 98.01 percent of the municipal electorate, dwarfing the former solon’s 1.79 percent share (396 votes) in the 2022 gubernatorial poll, according to published reports.
The municipality was created under Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 153, passed by the now defunct Regional Legislative Assembly on August 15, 2003, and approved on August 20, 2003, ratified in a plebiscite on January 3, 2004. It was carved out from Ampatuan, its mother town.
The former governor is running for the Congressional seat in Maguindanao del Sur under the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) against incumbent Rep. Mohammad “Tong” Paglas of the Al Ittihad-UKB party.
The sitting lady governor is seeking reelection in next year’s poll under the AlIttihad-UKB party against her former ally Hadji Ali Midtimbang of the UBJP, the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (M**F) now ruling the interim governance of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Al Ittihad-UKB party is led by the lady governor’s husband, former Sultan Kudarat Gov. Suharto “Teng” Mangudadatu who convened the BARMM Grand Coalition group to challenge the UBJP in the 1st regional parliament election.
Teng Mangudadatu, who is gunning for governor in Maguindanao del Norte, and Toto Mangudadatu are estranged cousins-turned-rivals in provincial and regional politics.
Former Sultan Kudarat Mayor Tocao Mastura, a former key player in the Al Ittihad party, is running under the UBJP against Teng Mangudadatu.
Fair elections
The former lawmaker appealed to fellow candidates and politicians in the two Maguindanao provinces to observe fair and honest electoral exercises, pointing out that elections should enable the voting masses to freely choose leaders in their communities and must not be laced with fleeting schemes such as intimidation or persecution.
He said election players in the Bangsamoro community should not undermine the principles of brotherhood, concern for public welfare, and reconciliation in Islam.
He made the call cm reminder as he admitted his family’s continued legal persecution from political quarters including estranged relatives in the Mangudadatu clan. (AGM)
PMT News | Headline
