Thousands sign petition for Lanao recall polls

COTABATO CITY — Maranaw mayors working for the conduct of a gubernatorial recall elections in Lanao del Sur have gathered more than 50,000 signatures of residents, twice higher than the poll body’s requirement of only 15 percent of the area’s total number of registered voters.

Mayor Mino Arimao of Masiu, a vote-rich town in the second district of Lanao del Sur, said they are optimistic the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will decide favorably on their petition for a recall election due to loss of trust and confidence in the leadership of their provincial governor, Bashier "Mustaqbal" Manalao.

Arimao, speaking on behalf of 29 other mayors who want Manalao recalled, said the number of signatures he and other mayors have gathered to support their petition for recall election was enough proof that voters in the province want a change in the provincial leadership.

Arimao said his group needed only more than 30,000 signatures to support their petition, but barangay officials were forced to accommodate more signatories who showed up in barangay halls after learning of the signature campaign.

Arimao said some of the remaining 10 mayors who did not join in the signature campaign have started sending feelers purportedly expressing their willingness to support the efforts of unseating Manalao.

"Maybe they have realized this recall election is for the good of all Muslims and Christians in Lanao del Sur," Arimao said.

The move to petition the Comelec for a recall election was agreed by 30 of Lanao del Sur’s 40 mayors in a meeting in Iligan City almost two weeks ago.

Mayor Macapado Benito of Kalanugas, who is among the staunch proponents of the proposal, said a recall election in the province will project to the international community the political maturity now of Lanao del Sur residents, known for their feudal political traditions which, in effect, encourages stockpiling of firearms as a means of perpetuating power.

The mayors channeled their petition to the Comelec central office in Intramuros, Manila through lawyer Nasive Yassin, provincial election supervisor of Lanao del Sur during a symbolic rite, capped with a kanduli (offering rituals) in Marawi City last week.

The move was the first ever both in the histories of Lanao del Sur and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).