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Guest author:
- ASSAM M. ULANGKAYA, Contributor / Freelance Journalist
AWANG, DOS, Maguindanao del Norte — After days of discernment, Dr. Suharto “Datu Teng” Tan Mangudadatu has filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for governor of the newly created province of Maguindanao del Norte.
His wife, Gov. Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu, incumbent governor of Maguindanao del Sur, and his supporters accompanied him in filing his COC at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The BARMM is comprised of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area (SGA) with eight new municipalities in the territory of North Cotabato province.
His runningmate, Bai Ainee Sinsuat, wife of Mayor Datu Lester Sinsuat, filed her candidacy earlier.
United Maguindanao del Norte
Datu Teng Mangudadatu, former secretary and director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), who is aspiring to be first elected governor of the youngest province of the Philippines, is appealing for unity of all tribes in the province.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief of staff Sammy Gambar (Abduraof Macacua) is the appointed governor of Maguindanao del Norte, appointed earlier this year by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
Datu Teng, if elected, vowed to serve and transform Maguindanao del Norte into a peaceful and progressive province like what he did to Sultan Kudarat province since his clan ruled it starting in 1998 to the present.
His son Datu Pax Ali S. Mangudadatu is the incumbent governor of the Christian-majority Sultan Kudarat province.
Maguindanaon, Indigenous People (IP), Iranun, Maranao, and Christian settlers comprised the population of Maguindanao del Norte and they have been living harmoniously.
In his various public statements, Datu Teng said that he sought meetings with senior leaders of the MILF chaired by current BARMM Interim Chief Minister Ahod Balawag “Al-Hadj Murad” Ebrahim to offer his vast experience as veteran local chief executive and legislature to help in transforming the BARMM towards a progressive region.
Datu Teng was a businessman before he entered politics. He was elected town mayor of Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat, in 1998. He served for three terms. He was elected provincial governor of Sultan Kudarat in 2007 vice his father Sultan Pax who finished his three terms. He also ran and won as lone congressman after he completed his term as governor.
Outstanding public performance and track records best describe Datu Teng as local chief executive
For health and free hospitalization: Sultan Kudarat is the only province in Central Mindanao that owns a Php1-billion tertiary-level hospital with modern health facilities constructed in 2021 out of the province’s budget.
The province under his leadership established the first Mobile and Floating Hospital with complete medical equipment in 1999 to serve his constituents living in far flung areas.
For free education: Gov Teng, as he is also popularly called, sponsored a bill that created the Sultan Kudarat State University( SKSU). SKSU has campuses in the towns of Isulan, Bagumbayan, Lutayan, Palimbang, Ninoy Aquino, Kalamansig, Lebak and Tacurong City offerimg Law, Medicine, Nursing, Education, Agriculture courses to name a few.
As of today, SKSU has 14,000 students according to SKSU President Dr. Sam L. Molao .
Agriculture: Sultan Kudarat is known as a rice granary province with vast areas devoted to rice, corn, coffee, fish culture products and palm plantations. Sultan Kudarat has two existing palm oil mills in Central Mindanao.
Infrastructure: Almost all towns of Sultan Kudarat are already connected with roads and bridges.
Sultan Kudarat is proud of its modern and beautiful capitol building, the best in Mindanao constructed under then Gov. Pax Mangudadatu’s administration.
Family of Governors
The Mangudadatu of Sultan Kudarat is the only Muslim political clan and couple that its members were simultaneously elected provincial governors in two provinces. Gov Teng was elected Governor of Sultan Kudarat in 2019 while his wife Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu was elected governor of Maguindanao province.
Gov Teng also made another political history when Gov. Bai Mariam and her eldest son Datu Pax Ali were elected at the same time as governors in 2022 of Maguindanao del Sur and Sultan Kudarat provinces, respectively. Gov. Datu Pax Ali is the youngest elected governor of the Philippines at 24.
Gov Teng is the eldest son of Gov. Datu Pax Mangudadatu. His elder sister Bai Ruth, married to incumbent Vice Governor Raden Sakaluran, a businessman and mother of Sultan Kudarat 2nd District Rep. Bai Rihan Sakaluran was once elected mayor of Lutayan town. Gov. Pax Mangudadatu was the first Muslim elected governor of the Christian-dominated province of Sultan Kudarat in 1998. (♡)