InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - Ten months before the 2013 mid-terms polls, government officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), tagged as the cheating capital of the Philippines during elections, shifted their allegiance to the ruling party.
The Liberal Party announced on Tuesday that five ARMM governors who belong to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arrroyo's Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) party, will be among the 168 ranking officials of the region who would formally take their oath of affiliation as members of LP on July 25 at the party's national headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City.
The five governors are Esmael Mangudadatu (Maguindanao), Jum Jainuddin-Akbar (Basilan), Mamintal Alonto-Adiong, Jr. (Lano del Sur), Sadikul Sahali (Tawi-Tawi), and Abdusakar Tan (Sulu).
According to the LP, two vice governors, 93 mayors, 53 board members, and 11 assemblymen have also been accepted to the party.
LP ARMM officials said that vice mayors and councilors of the incoming mayors would eventually swear into the party in local oath taking ceremonies in the coming days.
With this development, the LP said that it has now 100 percent of the provincial leadership and 85 percent of the mayors in the municipal level in the ARMM.
"The Party National leadership welcomes the addition of the new local leaders from ARMM as it strives to achieve stronghold and expand political influence crucial in the implementation of President Noynoy Aquino’s priority programs and reforms as embodied in his Social Contract with the Filipinos," the LP said in a statement.
Meanwhile, ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, who will witness the ceremony, said the region "is now treading the straight path."
"The five governors and other local leaders are now under the fold of the Liberal Party. This heralds the realization of change and progress in the ARMM," he said.
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