COTABATO CITY – Maguindanaons are mourning the deaths of a town mayor and a former provincial board member who both passed away over the weekend due to lingering illnesses.
Matanog Mayor Mohammad “Kits” Guro and former board member Datuwata Adziz died on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, even before they could file their certificates of candidacy for the 2022 polls.
Both Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu and former Rep. Bai Sandra Sema said they have lost a good friend with Guro’s sudden demise.
“We mourn his untimely demise, we lost a good leader,” said Sema, who is now running for vice governor of Maguindanao, Monday.
Sema said the mayor was a dedicated, passionate leader and loved his place very much.
Rep. Mangudadatu, for his part, said Mayor Guro had this vision to improve Matanog, an upland town that has survived the armed conflict in the past, to become an economic hub in the northern part of Maguindanao.
“He died short of achieving that dream,” Mangudadatu, who is once more eyeing the Maguindanao gubernatorial post, said.
Meanwhile, both Mangudadatu and Sema are also grieving the loss of Aziz, a high-ranking Moro National Liberation Front leader, who is staging a comeback for a seat at the provincial council.
“Everything happened so suddenly, we are all still in shock,” Mangudadatu said.
The Guro and Adziz families have yet to issue their respective statements as to the cause of death of the two political leaders.