Mastura elected first governor of country’s youngest province
Photo from https://parliament.bangsamoro.gov.ph/ website
CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao del Norte – The Commission on Elections today, April 14, proclaimed Datu Tucao Mastura as the first elected governor of Maguindanao del Norte and Datu Marshall Sinsuat as the first elected vice governor, respectively.
Lawyer Mohammad Nabil Mutia, Maguindanao election supervisor and chairman of the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBC), said Mastura earned 199,049 votes, becoming the first duly elected governor of Maguindanao del Norte, the country’s youngest province created just after the general elections in 2022 with the split of the vast Maguindanao province.
Sinsuat, who will also assume as presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan, has garnered 198,233 votes.
Mastura defeated former ally Suharto Mangudadatu and Marshall Sinsuat defeated Bai Ainee Sinsuat, wife of his cousin.
Both Mastura and Marshall are official candidates of United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Moro rebel group that forged peace with the government in 2014.
“Election is over, I am offering my hand of reconciliation to my political rivals for the sake of our people,” Mastura told reporters after his proclamation.
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The PBC earlier proclaimed the winning members of the Maguindanao del Norte Sangguniang Panglalawigan.
Earlier, the Comelec proclaimed two UBJP candidates for governor and vice governor of Maguindanao del Sur.
Datu Ali Omar Midtimbang defeated incumbent Gov. Bai Mariam Mangudadatu while Ustadz Hisham Nando won against Benzar Ampatuan in the vice gubernatorial contest.
In Datu Odin Sinsuat, the Comelec proclaimed Datu Baba Abas as town mayor-elect with 15,660 votes and Bobsteel Sinsuat as vice mayor-elect.
Both are UBJP candidates in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao’s largest and most populated town in Maguindanao del Norte. /jpv
