Three-way fight for Cotabato City mayor seen

COTABATO CITY – The mayoral race in this capital city of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is shaping up to be a three-cornered fight in 2025.

This developed when former Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) on Thursday under the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) party, which is allied with the administration.

Guiani-Sayadi was elected Vice Mayor in 2016, while her brother, Japal Guiani Jr., was elected mayor. She took over as mayor when her brother died.

She was elected to a regular term in 2019, the first woman to hold the city’s top post.

In 2022, Guiani-Sayadi was defeated by Mohammad Matabalao, who is also expected to seek reelection in 2025 although he has not yet filed his COC.

Vice Mayor Joharie Abu, Matabalao’s running mate in 2022, has already filed on Thursday his COC for mayor.

Abu, son of the late Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) vice chair for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar, is running under the “Serbisyong Inklusibo – Alyansang Progresibo” (SIAP), a regional party founded by Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr.

Abu is running in tandem with Bimbo Ayunan-Pasawiran with most of the incumbent city councilors running under them.