North Cotabato governor wins re-election

MANILA, Philippines - With unfelt opposition from four virtual unknowns, re-electionist Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza got her third and last mandate to govern North Cotabato province.

On Friday, Mendoza said she will focus her third term - lasting from June 30, 2016 to June 30, 2019 - on socio-economic programs needed to hasten the productivity of farmers in the province and fisherfolk in villages near the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta.

“Our continuing domestic peace programs in support of the Mindanao peace process will also remain among my administration’s top priorities, as always,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza was proclaimed by the provincial board of canvassers (PBC) in only about 24 hours after the May 9 simultaneous presidential and local elections.

“I am thanking all my constituents, the local government units, the police and the military for helping the Commission on Elections conduct peaceful elections in our province last May 9,” said Mendoza.

Mendoza is chair of the provincial peace and order council.

Mendoza served as congressional representative of North Cotabato for three consecutive terms prior to her election as governor in 2010.

Four North Cotabato residents, Manuel Adajar, Norodin Mangulamas, Lito Monreal and Tudon Saidali, contested Mendoza’s candidacy.

None of them garnered even 10 percent of the 322,064 votes Mendoza got in the final tally of election results from North Cotabato’s 17 towns and 40 barangays in Kidapawan City, the provincial capital.

The province has 699,019 registered voters scattered across three congressional districts.

Local executives who supported Mendoza’s bid for a third term had urged her to ask the poll body to disqualify the four who aspired for the gubernatorial seat of the province for seemingly being “nuisance candidates.”

Mendoza ignored the clamor of her constituent-leaders, citing constitutional democratic principles enabling qualified Filipino citizens to aspire for local, provincial and national elective posts during elections.

Mendoza’s running mate, the reelectionist Vice Gov. Gregorio Ipong, had also been proclaimed reelected by the PBC.

The canvassing of election results for North Cotabato’s provincial elective slots was held at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall inside the sprawling capitol complex in Barangay Amas in Kidapawan City.

Mendoza's name was thrust into the national scene after the deadly Kidapawan dispersal in April where farmers and other groups demanded help from the government as drought ravaged their crops.

The governor said the local government has been taking action to address the drought that had been affecting the province since November.

The Office of the Ombudsman has also found probable cause to charge her last month over anomalies in a P2.4-million fuel deal. Mendoza's chief legal counsel said they are confident the provincial chief executive could have her name cleared.