Mangudadatu clan patriarch backs Binay’s presidential bid

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

LUTAYAN, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines – The patriarch of the Mangudadatu clan of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat has thrown his support to the presidential candidacy of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Former Sultan Kudarat governor Sultan Pax Mangudadatu, uncle to Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, a member of the Liberal Party, said among the candidates for president, Binay had the better model of local government leadership, especially in terms of economic development, delivery of basic services and concern for the citizens’ welfare.

“In Makati City, the local government is taking care of the senior citizens, giving them the only consolation they would wish to have in the twilight of their lives, and that is compassion,” Mangudadatu told a group of traditional leaders in a meeting here Saturday.

The former governor, now a candidate for the same post as his son, incumbent Governor Suharto Mangudadatu would finish his third term in May, said the “true measure of good leadership is compassion,” as Binay had shown.

The 70-year old Muslim politician said he had also been tough in his younger days, and that his hard stance against crime became his way of winning community confidence. That translated to votes, which catapulted him to his first term as governor of a province with a majority Christian population, he recalled.

The Mangudadatu patriarch was first elected mayor of this Christian-majority town, before becoming governor of the Christian-dominated province.

He served for three full terms in each position before becoming congressman.  SFM