Cotabato City’s Sema elected to second term

COTABATO CITY — Last but not least.

The city’s board of canvassers finally proclaimed at the national office of the Commission on Elections in Intramuros, Manila the other night the secretary-general of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) as the winner in the May 10 mayoral race here.

Lawyer Lintang Bedol, chairman of the city’s board of canvassers, announced yesterday over Catholic radio station dxMS here that they had wrapped up their canvassing of the election returns for local positions and, from their tally, Sema emerged the winner.

The city canvassing was transferred four days ago to the Comelec central office from the headquarters here of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division on the behest of Sema’s lone contender, businesswoman Estrellita Juliano, of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino.

In his certificate of proclamation, Sema garnered 28,461 votes, defeating Juliano by more than 3,000 votes in the final canvassing.

Earlier, Sema’s followers staged a rally here to dramatize their opposition to the transfer of the canvassing to Manila, arguing that it was not necessary since there was no threat to the canvassers’ safety at Camp Siongco, the 6th ID’s command headquarters in nearby Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.