GO spokesman campaigns for 2 local Lakas bets

COTABATO CITY – Genuine Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano surprised Central Mindanao folks on Sunday when he arrived here and endorsed two candidates for local positions of the Lakas-Christian, Muslim Democrats (CMD).

Tamano, 36, a scion of an influential Maranaw clan in the first district of Lanao del Sur, told reporters he is supporting the re-election bid of Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema and his wife, Bai Sandra, who is aspiring for the lone congressional seat of the newly created Shariff Kabunsuan province.

Tamano did not even appear at the campaign sortie also on Sunday of the opposition’s candidate for the congressional seat of Shariff Kabunsuan, Didagen Dilangalen, a known protégé of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Tamano said he believes in the leadership of the Sema couple, both known stalwarts of Lakas-CMD.

"These leaders are my relatives and among Moros, family ties, both by affinity and blood, transcends politics," Tamano explained to reporters in the presence of his Maranaw and Maguindanaon relatives here.

"The gesture of Adel is very touching. It must have been dictated on him by his heart. He is a brilliant lawyer and, as such, must have thought the implications of his coming to Cotabato City to express support to the candidacy of my wife and me," Sema said.

Among Tamano’s relatives who accompanied him in his visit here was Macacuna Pangandaman, secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), whose nephew, Nasser Pangandaman Jr., is running for mayor of Masiu, Lanao del Sur. – John Unson