BULUAN, Maguindanao del Sur (MindaNews / 04 May) — Appointed Maguindanao del Sur Gov. Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu on Wednesday declared she and her party are no longer opposing the appointment of Abdulraof “Sammy Gambat” Macacua as governor of Maguindanao del Norte.
In the May 2022 elections, Mangudadatu, who ran under the Family Alliance Party, was reelected as governor of the then undivided Maguindanao.
Macacua, the secretary-general of United Bangsamoro Justice Party, the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was a senior minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at the time of his appointment by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Mangudadatu made the declaration a week after taking her oath of office in Malacanang on April 28.
“We have no more opposition, it’s time to embrace peace. Our people will suffer if we will not unite. We call on our supporters and allies to seek reconciliation also,” Mangudadatu said in a press conference in her office in Buluan town on Wednesday.
She said she and her party were responding to the call of the president for unity.
She emphasized that her camp is willing to sit down and discuss differences and wishes to settle misunderstanding in the past and let the leaders move on.
“We warmly welcome Governor Macucua, no one can stop his destiny,” she added.
During the press conference, Mangudadatu called Macacua “Bapa Sammy” (Uncle Sammy), revealing that they are actually related by blood.
“I am optimistic we can reach to an agreement and work together in peace and security of the now divided province,” she said.
The governor of Maguindanao del Sur was referring to the recent armed hostilities among MILF members, as well as, between government forces and suspected terror groups.
“It was actually a win-win solution, we need to communicate closely this time,” she said.
She cited that Macacua’s former position as BARMM senior minister is an advantage for the region’s six provinces.
“We need the region to help each of the provinces. Progress is next to impossible if we can’t do this,” she said.
Earlier, Macacua said he was willing to kneel down before any political clans for the sake of unity so they may work together in running the provincial government.
Netizens positively responded to the gestures of unity. Many of them said this is what leaders should do to better serve their people.
On September 17, 2022, a plebiscite was conducted to divide the province of Maguindanao into Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur.
Overwhelmingly, 706,558 voted “yes” to the plebiscite question: “Do you agree to divide the province of Maguindanao into two separate provinces to be known as Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, in accordance with Republic Act No. 11550?”
The “yes” votes represent 99.27% of those who cast their ballots in the plebiscite, which had a turnout of 86.93%.
Only 5,209 voters—accounting for 0.73%—wrote “no.” (Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)
