Mangudadatu wins, Andal Sr. loses

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao , Philippines  – The last nail on the coffin of the Ampatuans’ political empire was finally hammered in yesterday with the proclamation of Esmael Mangudadatu and his runningmate as winners in the May 10 contests for governor and vice governor in this province.

Mangudadatu defeated two other rivals, Datu Odin Mayor Ombra Sinsuat, a distant relative, and Midpantao Midtimbang.

Both opponents trailed in the tally of votes from Maguindanao’s 36 towns.

Mangudadatu’s running mate, Ismael Mastura, also defeated his closest rival, detained former governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Mangudadatu said his victory signaled the rebirth of the political opposition in a province ruled by the Ampatuans with an iron fist for almost two decades.

“Political democracy has been restored in the province at a very high price, the blood of the people that perished in the Nov. 23 massacre in Ampatuan (town),” he said.

Mangudadatu said the success of the May 10 automated elections in the province proved that his and his supporter’s earlier apprehensions that the elections would fall through were wrong.

The new governor shed tears upon passing by the spot where the Nov. 23 massacre happened.

Among those who perished in the carnage were Mangudadatu’s wife, Jenalyn, and more than 30 journalists. Lawyer Renault Macarambon, acting election supervisor of Maguindanao, said Mangudadatu and Mastura were proclaimed based on their respective virtually irreversible vote leads from 35 of the 36 towns in Maguindanao.

Mangudadatu garnered 157,706 votes, against Midtimbang’s 68,586 and Sinsuat’s 141,001.

Mastura, on the other hand, garnered 173,471 votes, as against the 143,471 votes tallied in the name of his closest rival, Ampatuan Sr.

Lawyers of Mangudadatu and his rivals all agreed, along with Macarambon, that even if election results from Datu Blah, the only remaining town to be counted, would be in favor of the other contenders, Mangudadatu and his running-mate would still emerge victorious.