Mayor Mohammad Bruce Matabalao filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) here Saturday to seek a second term.
Matabalao was accompanied by his running mate, former Barangay Poblacion 2 chair Johair Madag, and their complete slate for city council when he filed his COC before the city Commission on Elections office after a motorcade around the city.
“We still have to finish many programs for the city, and that is why I’m seeking reelection,” he told reporters in a brief interview shortly after he filed his COC.
Matabalao is the official candidate of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), for the city’s top post.
The Matabalao-Madag tandem is being challenged by incumbent City Vice Mayor Johari Butch Abu and running mate Bimbo Ayunan-Pasawiran of Serbisyong Inklusibo - Alyansang Progresibo (SIAP Party) and former Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi and her running mate Councilor Japal Guiani III of the Nationalist Peoples Coalition.
Cotabato City is the seat of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government.
Former Rep. Bai Sandra Sema also filed her COC to try to regain her former seat as Maguindanao del Norte representative to the House of Representatives.
Maguindanao del Norte aspirants
Meanwhile, a day earlier, former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general Suharto Mangudadatu also filed his candidacy for governor of the newly created Maguindanao del Norte province, with former Vice Governor Ainee Sinsuat of the then-undivided province as his running mate.
The two separately filed their COCs at the Comelec extension office in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.
Mangudadatu was accompanied by his wife, reelectionist Governor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu of Maguindanao del Sur, his children, and supporters in filing his certificate of candidacy.
“If elected, I will make Maguindanao del Norte the most progressive province in the BARMM,” he said.
His rival, Mayor Tocao Mastura of Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao del Norte, is set to file his candidacy under the UBJP on Sunday. (PNA)
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