Mayor Jong Mangudadatu made headlines earlier after his controversial campaigning for Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during a Liberal Party rally in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The LP rally was supposed to be a show of force for local candidates of the ruling party but the former mayor stole the show by campaigning for Davao City mayor Rody Duterte.
The brother of re-electionist Maguindanao Governor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu, former Buluan Mayor Ebrahim “Jong” Mangudadatu shocked the audience in the town of Buluan as he spoke at the ende of the LP’s local campaign and declared that Mayor Rody Duterte, will represent the first generation of presidents from Mindanao. Once Mayor Duterte will be elected as president, he will be the first from the country’s southern island of Mindanao.
During the said LP Rally, the former mayor even raised his clenched fist, which is the campaign signature of the presidential preference survey front runner Mayor Rody Duterte instead of the popular L sign of the Liberal Party of the Philippines.
According to Jong Mangudadatu during the LP rally, Mayor Duterte called him up last week about the highly anticipated elections. “He asked if dilaw na daw ako. Dito ipinakita ko sa public na buo ang suporta ko sa kanya. Akalain mo, di pala lahat ng dilaw ay dilaw. Ang iba Duterte din pala.”
(He asked if I am ‘yellow,’ [in reference to the campaign color of the ruling Liberal Party]. But here I have shown to the public that my support for him is solid. That not all who are yellow are really yellow. Some are also for Duterte.)
The incumbent governor of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, a staunch ally of standard-bearer Mar Roxas, who is running for re-election as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was also present during the political rally but he merely smiled when asked about the incident of Mayor Mangudadatu’s gesture.
According to some media from Mindanao the LP rally was held as a gathering of popular political personalities and local leaders in ARMM who are supporting Gov. Hataman’s gubernatorial bid against his opponent Sulu Vice Governor Sakur Tan. ARMM has more than 1.6 million voters representing 23.23% of the 12.6 million registered voters in the entire Mindanao.
Photo Credit: Rappler
