MANILA, Philippines — The wife of Maguindanao Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu has accused him of having affairs with other women, an allegation that she made public in several Facebook posts that had gone viral.
The now-deleted posts of Mylene Mangudadatu, but which still circulated in social media circles, accused the lawmaker of keeping two mistresses, one of which is a beauty queen.
In a text message to INQUIRER.net on Friday, Mangudadatu refused to respond to Mylene’s accusations following legal advice.
“Much as I would like to respond, my legal counsel has advised me otherwise, as the matter has already been blown out of proportion all courtesy of Mylene Maligaya’s actions,” he said.
“I defer to my legal counsel’s advice not only because of its inherent soundness but also because as a public officer and a gentleman, I honestly believe that marital spats are meant to be resolved privately and within the family circle and not in the social media,” Mangudadatu added.
‘Evidence of infidelity’
A screenshot of Mylene’s deleted post showed that that Mylene had offered netizens of their gadget of choice if they could send her photos of Toto with one of his alleged mistresses coming from a flight.
On August 4, Mylene again posted about receiving a threat from a certain KuyaKing Mangudadatu, said to be one of the congressman’s children. She also posted a screenshot of their encounter, telling her to leave his father alone.
“Just received a threat from the comments section from the first son of Cong. Toto Mangudadatu, a Board Member of Maguindanao Province,” she said.
“I therefore publicly disclose that if anything happens to me, this person will be of first person of interest for investigation,” Mylene added.
In November 23, 2009, Mangudadatu’s family members, including his wife Bai Genalyn and other journalists were brutally ambushed by the troops deployed by then Ampatuan town mayor, Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr., in what was deemed the world’s single deadliest attack on journalists ever recorded, and the “worst election-related violence in Philippine history.”
The journalists joined the convoy of Genalyn Mangudadatu to cover the filing of candidacy of Mangudadatu in an election office in Maguindanao’s capital, contesting Ampatuan’s bid for . Mangudadatu was not in the convoy for security reasons.