Two ranking officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) almost came to blows at the Domestic Centennial Terminal 2, with the governor of Sulu slapping the mayor of Pangutaran town in Sulu.
The incident between Gov. Abdul Sakur Tan and Mayor Ahmad Nanoh happened in full view of arriving passengers waiting for their bags at carousel No. 3 in the arrival area.
The argument apparently started on board Philippine Airlines flight PR 128 from Zamboanga, when Tan, Nanoh, and his son Al Radzmin Nanoh had a heated argument that continued when they arrived at the airport last Sunday afternoon.
Before that, two bodyguards of Tan and a bodyguard of Nanoh had engaged in a fistfight until airport policemen pacified them.
Tan allegedly accosted Nanoh as the latter was waiting for his bags at the carousel. He approached the mayor, pointed a finger at him, and said in Tausug dialect: “You left the municipal office without informing me.”
Before Nanoh could reply, Tan slapped him, but Nanoh did not retaliate, according to an incident report by Chief Inspector Al Abner Santos of the 2nd Police Center for Aviation Security.
Airport policemen rushed to the scene and separated the two officials before the situation got out of hand.
An irate Tan left in a huff with his bodyguards while the mayor and his son proceeded to police authorities to file a complaint against the governor.
Nanoh narrated how Tan lambasted him on the plane.
Authorities believed that the incident was personal rather than political.
Ali Usman Jilah, head petitioner in the recall petition filed with the Commission on Elections against Tan, said Nanoh is one of the leaders of the recall move in their province.
The petition was signed by over 62,000 voters of the province, most of them from Nanoh’s town.
“This must have earned the ire of Governor Tan,” he said.
Nanoh also supported former Sulu governor Ben Loong whom Tan defeated in the last elections.
In radio interviews in Manila yesterday morning, Nanoh said that he was slapped and boxed by Tan and his companions.
But the governor, in another radio interview, denied the mayor’s claim.
He said that the mayor appeared hostile and combative when he confronted him. “Umaksiyon siya na lalaban, kaya inunahan ko na (He acted like he was looking for a fight, soI beat him to it),” he said.