Mangudadatu hits back at critics: ‘We worked hard for our money’

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu. AP FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY – If ever his family and kin spent cash on shiny vehicles and trips out of the country, the money came from their private businesses and not government funds, Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu told the Inquirer.

Mangudadatu was reacting to a series of articles being circulated on social media, which accused him and his immediate family members of ostentatious lifestyle while most of Maguindanao suffers from poverty.

“Year after year, government economic data rate Maguindanao as among the country’s poorest provinces. Yet nothing much is being done about it by the national and local government,” one of the articles claimed.

“On the local front, we see our local officials led by Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu and brothers Maguindanao Rep. Sajid Mangudadatu, Maguindanao Provincial Administrator Ibrahim “Jong” Mangudadatu, Maguindanao Assemblyman to ARMM Khadefeeh “Toy” Mangudadatu, son Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor King Jhazzer Mangudadatu etc. getting richer while their constituents getting poorer by the day,” it added.

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The articles claim that the Mangudadatu family owns three helicopters, including a R44 Raven II, which allegedly costs P25 million to P40 million each.

The family also reportedly owns expensive SUVs, including Hummer vehicles, and millions worth of motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.

“And as the government places Maguindano in a State of Calamity due to the military operations and drought, the Mangudadatu Clan can afford to shamelessly and without tinge of guilt post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites their princely lives as if to show they don’t care or are not bothered by the massacre, deaths and suffering all around,” the articles added.

Mangudadatu, however, shrugged off the allegations asserting that these were only black propaganda and have something to do with the upcoming elections.

“We are still trying to trace them but one of the accounts is already abandoned. It is clear that these accounts were created only to destroy our reputation. I know these are my enemies. I will not name names but definitely from my political rivals,” Mangudadatu said.

Further commenting on the articles, he said the choppers for example were rented from two different companies and from charismatic leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.

“We only rent from them and it would depend on which is available. And we do not use choppers that frequently. We only use it if there are emergencies like regional or provincial gatherings,” Mangudadatu said.

He said his family opts for choppers because these are safer, faster and cheaper than traveling in convoys.

“We use choppers if there is an urgent need to fly. And if we total our expenses if we travel by convoy renting a chopper is cheaper,” Mangudadatu said.

He explained that the usual rental rate of a chopper is P30,000 per hour.

“Definitely it is safer. I have been the target of several bombing attempts before. Once in Tacurong, where one of my board members died. We got hit in Datu Odin Sinsuat. We almost got hit when I was traveling with the late (Interior Secretary) Jesse Robredo. When we arrived at the massacre site another bomb exploded. When I was still a mayor, a bomb was planted at the gate of my house. What bothers me most is the collateral damage most especially the innocent civilians,” Mangudadatu said.

His son, King, who is the vice mayor of Buluan town was also ambushed in the town of Upi.

“We are not that wealthy but we put importance on our safety. Our lives might have changed a bit but we remained the same people. We have businesses, our fish cages and the palm oil plantations. From these, we get our money,” he said.

“It is from our business and not from taxpayers’ money. We also worked hard for it. And it will be very disgraceful if we will steal from the people’s money after what we have been through most especially after we already have sacrificed lives to serve the people. All of our businesses are legit,” Mangudadatu said.

He said their fish business in Lake Buluan and in Davao del Sur alone was capable of producing 20 to 30 tons of fish every other day including tilapia, bangus, lapu-lapu, pompano and talakitok.

He would not say how much the hundreds of hectares of their palm oil areas make.

King said the photos showing them on a chopper were nothing but “selfies.”

“We love to have our photos taken, including on a chopper used by a skydiving team and a real estate property. And with the trend of sharing photos online, we also post it on social networking sites,” he said.

Mangudadatu admitted that Maguindanao is a poor province but he said transforming it could not be done overnight.

“But of course we are doing our best to solve poverty,” Mangudadatu said, citing programs his administration had started, including rubber seedlings and high-yield oil palm seedlings dispersal.

Aside from agricultural projects, Mangudadatu claims that they also focus in education by sending at least 6,000 college scholars to universities and in infrastructure projects.

“Do you know why development is hampered in Maguindanao? It is because of the proliferation of firearms. There are so many groups in the area like the BIFF, MILF, MNLF and there are also private armed groups. Even the suspects of the (Maguindanao) massacre are hiding there,” Mangudadatu said.

The security situation is one of the reasons why investors are uneasy to explore business ventures in the province, the governor added.

“Many investors are uneasy. But the investments will continue but there will be some delays,” Mangudadatu said.

On an article that claimed he and his family spent so much on the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight tickets, Mangudadatu said the tickets were given by the Filipino boxing idol.

He said he expected more criticisms as the elections draw near.

Former North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol, who said he had known how the Mangudadatus become they became wealthy from their businesses, described the efforts to destroy the Maguindanao family as “the second massacre of the Mangudadatus.”

“Reading the article, I was aghast at the plain and simple lies peddled by the writer,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Piñol said the author of the black propaganda against Mangudadatu “should have double checked his facts and should have made sure that there were no direct witnesses who could testify that what is being peddled is a brazen lie.”

“I am not defending Gov. Toto because he is my friend but as the former Governor of North Cotabato, who saw firsthand the kind of governance Maguindanao province had over the years, I can say with all certainty that Maguindanao has a better leader now in Gov. Mangudadatu,” he said.

“Becoming rich is neither a sin nor a crime. But stealing from the poor and killing innocent civilians are definitely evil deeds,” Piñol said, adding that he can smell “a well-financed effort to demolish the Mangudadatus, whose ascension to power in Maguindanao was a result of a painful episode in their lives – the still unsolved Maguindanao Massacre where Gov. Mangudadatu lost his wife, Gigi, King’s mother, his sisters and relatives and where over 30 media practitioners were also killed.” With a report from Allan Nawal