14 Maguindanao mayors running unopposed

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — Fourteen of 26 Maguindanao mayors who are seeking re-election, will run unopposed in what could be the first peaceful elections in the province.

Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan, provincial chairman of the administration Lakas-CMD (Christian Muslim Democrats), said he is certain that elections next year in the 14 municipalities, mostly in the second district, will be orderly and peaceful.

"There will be no more intense rivalries because the leaders there have agreed to equitably share power among themselves through concessions in the positioning of candidates for vice mayors and councilors," Ampatuan told his constituent-leaders in the vernacular during a peace dialogue here the other day.

The 14 towns — Mamasapano, Shariff Aguak, Ampatuan, Talayan, Guindulungan, Datu Piang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Unsay Ampatuan, Buluan, Datu Paglas, S.K. Pendatun, Sultan Kudarat, Pagalungan and Datu Odin Sinsuat — were the scene of fierce clashes between feuding Muslim clans in past elections.

These areas are known bailiwicks of President Arroyo.

The other day, local leaders gave a hero’s welcome to former Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong, who is running for congressman in the second district of Maguindanao.

Datumanong, a scion of Maguindanaoan royalty, is a nephew of Ampatuan.

A lawyer by profession, Datumanong, whose career in public governance started in the early 1960s, was congressman for three consecutive terms in the second district before Mrs. Arroyo appointed him public works and highways secretary in 2001 and subsequently, justice secretary late last year.

Ampatuan said he is certain that Datumanong will trounce his rivals. "Muslims and Christians alike are aware that he (Datumanong) is over-qualified for such an elective position," he said.

Datumanong, Lakas-CMD chairman in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Ampatuan and other local candidates of the ruling party will simultaneously file their certificates of candidacy at the provincial capitol here on Monday.