Tension rises anew over Maguindanao del Norte leadership
COTABATO CITY — Political tension rose anew in Maguindanao del Norte province after Bai Fatima Ainee Sinsuat assumed as governor and is now seeking to void the hold on power of acting Gov. Abdulraof Macacua.
Sinsuat, the acting vice governor, issued a declaration that she was taking over the gubernatorial seat on Monday. Her legal consultant, Ronald Torres, told reporters that Sinsuat actually “reassumed” the post as she took over it in October last year, on the heels of the split of Maguindanao into two provinces following a plebiscite in September.
Torres said Sinsuat’s assumption as governor was based on Section 50 of Republic Act No. 11550, or the law which divided Maguindanao province, and which a recent Supreme Court ruling said was the basis for a leadership transition in Maguindanao del Norte following the split.
The June 26 ruling by the court’s Second Division said Sinsuat’s October 2022 assumption as acting governor was “valid.”In a press briefing on Thursday, Bangsamoro Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said the Bureau of Local Government Finance sought guidance from his office on a request by Sinsuat to void Macacua’s authority over the finances of the province.
But Sinarimbo said the acts of Sinsuat and Board Member Sharifudin Mastura, who assumed as acting vice governor, were premature as the Supreme Court decision had yet to become executory because the parties had yet to receive their copies of the document.
Sinarimbo further said that the decision itself did not involve the question of who should be Maguindanao del Norte governor, nor has it revoked the appointment by the President of Macacua as acting governor.
