'We'll skin Lim, Lacson alive' - ex-mayor's men

SOUTH UPI, Maguindanao - The defiant followers of the ousted mayor here threatened yesterday to "skin alive" Interior and Local Government Secretary Alfredo Lim and Philippine National Police head Panfilo Lacson should they intervene and install a new mayor.

The partisans of ex-Mayor Jovito Martin, unfazed by the arson case they are facing for setting the local town hall on fire, rejected anew during a rally here a Regional Trial Court ruling that Datu Israel Sinsuat, and not Martin, won as mayor in the May 1998 elections.

Martin, who had been in hiding since the burning of the town hall, attended yesterday's gathering in this hinterland town.

The town hall was burned a day after the RTC ruled that Sinsuat won over Martin by 907 votes. Martin tops the list of 15 suspects in the burning of the town hall.

Sinsuat, who holds office in Cotabato City due to what he described as the "war footing" of Martin and his followers, said the problem has now affected the town's economy and the repair of farm-to-market roads.

"The police and the military should do something about this display of rebellious acts," said a key Tiruray education official here.

Senior Superintendent Omar Ali, police community relations director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said their regional director, Jilhani Nani, has been working out a peaceful transition in the local leadership.

"We are confident that this can be resolved in the next few days," Ali said. -