DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 12 Dec) – A congressman from the poverty-stricken province of Maguindanao, who is running for senator in next year’s election, raffled off a brand new Mitsubishi Mirage during the Pasko Kumbira sa City Hall here Tuesday evening.
Not to be outdone is Sen. Cynthia Villar, who is seeking reelection, who gave away a house and lot also in a raffle for the local government employees.
Rep. Zajid G. Mangudadatu, of Maguindanao’s 2nd District who is also brother of Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, drew the winner of the brand new car. Zajid ran under the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and will be under the same party for his senate bid.
Mangudadatu also drew the winner of yet another major prize in the raffle – a Yamaha Mio i125 motorcycle. But it was unclear who sponsored it as Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) head Lemuel G. Ortonio has yet to reply on MindaNews’s query about it.
Retired police Hernando Las of the Vice Regulation Unit won the car while Mary Beth Andrade of the City Health Office won the house and lot. The motorcycle went to Editha Beniga of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office.
Sen. Villar filed candidacy for reelection under the Nacionalista Party, which allied with PDP-Laban of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Mangudadatu said he wished for unity among all people in the country.
“My wish is, regardless of what religion you believe, all Filipinos people must unite for the country,” he said.
The congressman thanked the First Family for giving him their trust. He hoped that the people get united under the term of the President.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the province of Maguindanao recorded a poverty incidence of 48.8% based on its 2015 Official Poverty Statistics. The province of Lanao del Sur had the highest poverty incidence at 66.3%, Sulu 49.6%, Basilan 28.3%, and Tawi-Tawi 10.6%.
According to PSA, the 48.2% poverty incidence of the five-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 2015 was the highest among all regions of the country. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
