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KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/9 Oct) – Former South Cotabato governor Hilario de Pedro III is now back at the capitol as the provincial administrator.
Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. appointed De Pedro after Isidro Janita resigned from the post to run as councilor in his Banga hometown.
De Pedro told MindaNews last month he won’t run in the 2013 midterm elections because “he is tired of politics.”
De Pedro said he accepted the position although his coveted position would have been to head the provincial economic enterprise.
“That’s a more challenging job,” he added.
De Pedro, a lawyer, was governor from 1992 to 2001 and representative of the second congressional district from 1988 to 1992.
Pingoy and De Pedro ran under the same party, Lakas-Kampi-CMD, in the 2010 elections, although the latter was unsuccessful in his bid for the second congressional district seat, which was won by former three-term governor Daisy Avance Fuentes.
Prior to his appointment, De Pedro vowed to support Pingoy in the 2013 gubernatorial race.
Next year’s bets for the province’s top post also include Fuentes (Liberal Party – Nationalist People’s Coalition) and former Koronadal mayor Fernando Miguel (Independent).
Pingoy is running under the United Nationalist Alliance. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)