Datumanong: I have never run from a good fight

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — There’s no backing out.

Thus said former Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong as he denied reports he had dropped out of the congressional race in the second district of Maguindanao.

He suspects that a rival political camp was behind the "orgy of lies."

"I have never run from a good fight, especially if it concerns governance and public administration, in my almost 40 years of being a public servant," said Datumanong, chairman of the Lakas-CMD (Christian-Muslim Democrats) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Datumanong, a scion of a political clan with clout among residents here and in at least seven adjoining towns, was a congressman in the second district for three terms before President Arroyo appointed him public works and highways secretary and subsequently, justice secretary.

A lawyer by profession, Datumanong is also known in the south for his role as a government negotiator in the much-vaunted Dec. 23, 1976 Tripoli Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front.

The accord was the main reference used in the drafting of the Sept. 2, 1996 government-MNLF peace pact.

Talk about Datumanong supposedly abandoning his candidacy first cropped up in General Santos City, where someone from the opposition camp, quoting Malacañang sources, reportedly told local newsmen that Datumanong had not just withdrawn from the race, but had also resigned as ARMM chairman of Lakas-CMD.

Datumanong is pitted against Mastor Salendab, who hails from Buluan town, whose re-electionist mayor, Datu Toto Mangudadatu, and councilors are all Lakas-CMD members.

"I’m sure of emerging victorious in this race, without sweat, so why should I back out? I will not resign either from the party’s chairmanship in the ARMM because I fully enjoy the trust and confidence of President Arroyo and Speaker Jose De Venecia, who are both holding very high and sensitive positions in Lakas-CMD and I don’t want to disappoint them," he said.

Datumanong said it is up to the voters in the second district to punish, "through the ballots," the local politicians working to derail his candidacy.

"I have never been a vindictive man and just by clarifying things peacefully, without hitting back, I can project more and more to my people that I’m a peace advocate, not a warmonger, and as such, I’m worthy of their support," he said.

Datumanong promised to focus his legislative work on measures that would complement the Southern Mindanao peace process and foster peace and sustainable development in areas covered by the ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.