Returning Lanao Sur governor thankful to supporters
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 23:15 PM Thu May 23, 2019
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By:
John Unson
Vice Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. (right) is a “returnee” provincial governor (Handout photo)
MARAWI CITY --- The vice governor of Lanao del Sur is thankful to voters who catapulted him on May 13 to the provincial gubernatorial post in a phenomenal fashion.
Mamintal Adiong, Jr. was the last to be proclaimed by the poll body as governor-elect of Lanao del Sur from among winning candidates for governor in the five component-provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Adiong, who was elected vice governor in 2016, garnered almost 200,000 votes during the May 13 gubernatorial race in Lanao del Sur.
The province covers 39 towns and more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City, seat of the Lanao del Sur provincial government.
Adiong was governor of Lanao del Sur for three consecutive terms, from 1997 to 2016, before he became vice governor.
All of his seven rivals, among them Guiling Mamondiong, the anointed candidate of President Rodrigo Duterte, trailed far behind in the tally of votes for governor of Lanao del Sur during the May 13 polls.
Adiong’s son, Mohammad Khalid, was elected provincial vice governor.
Adiong’s younger sibling, Ansaruddin, and cousin, Yasser Balindong, were both elected as congressional representatives in the first and second districts of the province.
In a statement Thursday, Adiong said he will not begrudge his rivals and all his constituent-mayors who supported other gubernatorial candidates in keeping with his goal of fostering peace and political stability in Lanao del Sur and in Marawi City.
The mayor of Marawi City, lawyer Majul Gandamra, also won a second term. Gandamra and Adiong are staunch political allies.
Adiong said Thursday he will focus on infrastructure and socio-economic programs after his assumption as governor on June 30.
“I am grateful to my supporters. I shall serve all regardless of whom they supported during the recent elections. Let us set aside now the political differences we had during the election period,”Adiong said.
Adiong also pledged to support Malacañang’s peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose leader, Hadji Ahod Ebrahim, is now chief minister of BARMM.
The adjoining BARMM provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao are both bastions of the MILF, whose 22 years of peace talks with Malacañang resulted in the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a more empowered Bangsamoro regional government.