Mangudadatu patriarch backs ‘compassionate’ Binay

Vice President Jejomar Binay will be enjoying the support of former Sultan Kudarat governor Sultan Pax Mangudadatu. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

LUTAYAN, Sultan Kudarat – The patriarch of the powerful Mangudadatu clan of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat has thrown his support to the presidential bid of Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Former Sultan Kudarat governor Sultan Pax Mangudadatu, uncle to Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, said among the candidates for president, Binay had 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, who is again running for the same post after his son incumbent Governor Suharto Mangudadatu finishes 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 at running after criminals also became his way through winning community confidence. That then translated to votes 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-dominated town, before becoming governor of the Christian-dominated province.
He served for three full terms in each position before becoming congressman.

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