Tawi-Tawi town mayor unseated

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – A winning mayoralty candidate of the remote island town off Tawi-Tawi will finally get the taste to serve her constituents in a very short period of time before the next 2010 polls after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc unseated her sitting protagonist finding he lost the 2007 contest.

The decision of the Comelec was handed down two weeks ago in Manila declaring Al-Saggab Mohammad Ali, who sat more than two years as mayor of the municipality of Sapa-Sapa in Tawi-Tawi, as loser against rival Putli Aisa Sulayman Matolo in the 2007 contest.

Matolo’s lawyer Quirino Esguerra Jr., who received the Comelec en banc decision said his client have actually won the counting but was declared loser for unknown reasons prompting her to file the electoral protest before the Regional Trial Court Branch 5.

Esguerra said Matolo lost the court battle as it favored the decision to Ali as the winner of the mayoralty race promting the latter to elevate the case before the Comelec that reversed the court decision.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Comelec assistance regional director Vidzfar Julie confirmed the Sapa-Sapa electoral protest case that was handled by the Comelec en banc in Manila.                       – Roel Pareño