Pipo named as administrator of Comelec-controlled Datu Odin Sinsuat

Commission on Elections. File photo

MANILA, Philippines — Commissioner Noli Pipo will be appointed as the administrator of Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte, the Commission on Elections said on Monday.

The municipality has now been under the control of the Comelec, said its chairman George Erwin Garcia.

“Commissioner Pipo will be placed as the administrator,” Garcia said in an ambush interview at the Palacio del Gobernador.

READ: New Comelec Commissioner Pipo’s plea to CA no very personal questions

Garcia cited Pipo’s experience as the Regional Election Director of the Bangsamoro region.

On Friday, Garcia announced the Comelec control of the town, which means the poll body is now the de facto local government unit in charge in that area.

READ: Garcia wants Maguindanao del Norte town under Comelec control

The Comelec chief said the poll body will designate a satellite office there to fulfill their duties.

Despite this, Garcia vowed that the normal operations in the local government unit (LGU) will not be disrupted.

“We could not connect any evidence that the LGU is the sponsor of violence. It’s unfair to the LGU,” Garcia said.

“The (Comelec control) declaration was there so anytime the power is there for use and to be utilized in the coming days,” he added.

This development came after the killing of a Comelec officer in the said town.

Comelec election officer Bai Maceda Lidasan Abo was attacked while she was traveling from her office at Barangay Dalican in Datu Odin Sinsuat on March 26.

She and her husband who was with her were dead on arrival.