Ex-mayor takes BARMM seat in Maguindanao del Sur’s 5th District
COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Former General Salipada K. Pendatun mayor Rafsanjani Pendatun Ali is officially Member of Parliament-elect for the 5th District of Maguindanao del Sur. His election was assured even before precincts opened during the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections as both his opponents either withdrew or were disqualified from the race.
Ali, who ran under the Bangsamoro Federalist Party led by Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua, received 66,477 or 63.14% of his district’s votes. This is according to Maguindanao del Sur’s total certificates of canvass on the Commission on Elections’s website.
One of the former mayor’s opponents, Bangsamoro Party bet Nasser Guialal Dalgan, officially withdrew from the race right before the polls closed. The party was affiliated with the Moro National Liberation Front and led by Bangsamoro Minister for Labor and Employment Muslimin Sema.
Dalgan obtained 342 or 0.32% of the votes, though these will be considered stray votes.
Disqualified candidate Anwar Salipada Alamada also got 38,459 or 36.53% of the votes, still considered stray. He was the bet of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party whose candidacy had been cancelled months ahead of the polls over allegations that he was not a resident of the district he ran for.
An appeal against his disqualification remains pending at the Supreme Court, according to the UBJP. – Rappler.com
