Reelected Basilan provincial governor sworn to office
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 11:45 AM Tue May 28, 2019
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By:
John Unson
Jim Salliman is now a second-termer governor. (Courtesy of Richard Falcatan, Station dxNO, Isabela City)
BASILAN --- The reelected governor of this island province, Jim Salliman, was sworn to office Tuesday in Isabela City by Judge Danilo Bucoy.
Salliman, now in his second term as Basilan governor, defeated a scion of the Akbar clan, Alfiya, daughter of the late former Congressman Wahab Akbar, during the May 13 gubernatorial race in the province.
Salliman’s wife, Bai Annie Datumanong, is daughter of the late Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong, a scion of the Maguindanaon royalty.
He was first elected Basilan provincial governor in 2016.
Salliman’s brother, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman, was elected congressional representative of Basilan during the May 13 elections.
Hataman’s wife, Sitti Djalia Turabin, also won in her bid for the mayoral post of Isabela City, Basilan’s former capital.
The Hataman couple also defeated rivals from the Akbar family that ruled Basilan for about two decades.
Salliman said Tuesday he will focus on more programs meant to sustain the fragile peace now spreading around their island province.
He said he will also intensify the provincial government’s socio-economic thrusts to generate more extensive livelihood opportunities for the Muslim and Christian settlers in the 11 towns in Basilan and in its two component cities --- Isabela and Lamitan