No longer PH cheating capital?

BULUAN, Maguindanao—More than 10 years since Maguindanao province gained infamy for shutting out then presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., a highly popular actor, in the 2010 elections, the province is hoping to live down its reputation as the country’s election cheating capital.

Poe, adoptive father of current presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe, did not get a single vote in 2010 in Maguindanao.

The province is trying to prevent a repeat of that infamous time in its history. The now powerful Mangudadatu clan, for instance, is divided on who to support for President.

At a gathering here on Tuesday of some 2,000 local leaders and supporters of the administration Liberal Party (LP), former Buluan Mayor Ibrahim Mangudadatu openly campaigned for Rodrigo Duterte, presidential candidate of  Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban and Davao City mayor.

In the same occasion, Ibrahim’s brother, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, an administration stalwart, endorsed, with Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas and running mate Leni Robredo.

Ibrahim, who is not seeking any elective position, said his refusal to support the administration ticket could help Maguindanao shed its image as the country’s cheating capital.

In the 2010 elections, Maguindanao, then ruled by the Ampatuan clan, was believed to have played a key role in the alleged rigging of election results in favor of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is now under hospital detention on plunder charges.

Ibrahim delivered the welcome address during the LP event and elicited cheers from the crowd when he raised his fist. He told reporters later that he was a Duterte supporter despite being an LP member.

Hataman acknowledged that not everyone in Maguindanao supported the administration’s candidates but said the province’s leaders were “90 percent aligned” with them.

“We will let the people decide,” Hataman said. With a report from Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao