Mother, son poised to hold top post in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat provinces

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat — A mother and son will soon hold the top posts of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao provinces, the partial and unofficial results from the Comelec transparency server showed as of 8:02 a.m. Tuesday.

Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu who ran for governor in Sultan Kudarat, and his mother, re-electionist governor of Maguindanao Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu, garnered the highest votes in the two provinces, leaving behind their respective opponents by a wide margin, according to the partial and unofficial results.

Datu Pax Ali, who ran under the Lakas CMD party, clobbered his only rival, former beauty queen Sharifa Akeel Mangudadatu, by garnering 249,077 votes against Akeel Mangudadatu’s 81,429 votes, based on 94 percent (752 of 800 clustered precincts) of the partial and unofficial results.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) earlier canceled Datu Pax Ali’s certificate of candidacy after Akeel Mangudadatu filed a petition questioning his residency status in Sultan Kudarat province but on Friday, just days before the elections on Monday, Datu Pax Ali obtained a temporary restraining order against the Comelec ruling.

Akeel Mangudadatu of Aksyon Demokratiko is the wife of Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, who ran against Bai Mariam, the reelectionist governor of Maguindanao and Datu Pax Ali’s mother.

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Bai Mariam, who ran under the Nacionalista Party, garnered 307,271 votes against Toto’s 199,241 votes in the 1,202 of the 1,306 clustered precincts, or 92 percent of the canvassed votes in the province.

This is only the latest in the long saga in the two provinces where members of the same family, bearing the same family name but estranged from each other and locked in intense rivalry, have been taking turns holding the reins of power.

If he wins, Datu Pax Ali will take the place of his father, the incumbent Sultan Kudarat Governor Suharto “Teng” Mangudadatu, elected for his last term in 2019.

Teng, a cousin of Toto Mangudadatu, served as Sultan Kudarat governor from 2007 to 2016, first district representative from 2016 to 2019, and governor again from 2019 to 2022.