Move to put town in Lanao Norte under Comelec control opposed

Oficials of a municipality in Lanao del Norte province cry foul over a proposal to place their town under the Commission on Elections control during the 2010 elections. In a press conference late last Thursday, Pantao Ragat Mayor Neshreen Dimaporo Lantud and vice Mayor Lacson Lantud expressed disappointment over Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo and Gov. Khalid Dimaporo’s request for the Comelec to take control of the town. In a report by the Phlippines News Agency, the Dimaporos claim that a local official there is maintaining a private army of around 200 members, and that the people there are living in fear. In Thursday’s press conference, Mayor Lantud denied the existence of any armed group maintained by a politician in their town. “We are not maintaining private army nor controlling some of the agencies of the government that include the teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd) and law enforcement," Mayor Lantud said. In their petition to be submitted to the Comelec, both Rep. Dimaporo and Governor Dimaporo cited the existence of a private army in the town, and that local DepEd officials are controlled by a local politician. [See: Solon, guv seek to place a Lanao del Norte town under Comelec control] But vice mayor Lantud stressed that what Rep. Dimaporo described as private army were actually members of the Civilian Auxiliary Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) which is under the administration and operational control of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Also at the press conference, DepEd District Supervisor Norhaya Saro said that Mayor and Vice Mayor Lantud are not intervening with DepEd’s activities. She was referring to the Dimaporos’ claim that Education officials, who will be officiating in the 2010 polls, are controlled by a few politicians in the town. In his response to Media inquiries, Pantao Ragat Police chief SPO2 Casan Azis noted that “the peace and order situation here is very normal. People here are not living in fear. " Azis made the comment after learning that both the congressman of the 2nd District of Lanao del Norte and the governor believe that the people in the town are living in fear. Vice mayor Lantud laughed off the idea that Rep. Dimaporo will be submitting the recommendations to the poll body for fear of a repeat of the November 23 Maguindanao Massacre that killed 57 people, a bloodbath widely believed caused by political rivalry. Vice mayor Lantud said that they don’t have a backhoe, referring to the heavy equipment used to dig a mass grave for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre. “If ever we have such an equipment we will use it instead for infrastructure development projects…," he added. He said that the move of his cousins (Dimaporos ) is a political harassment for not supporting the governor's administration. “This is their way of putting Pantao Ragat in a bad light without thinking that this town is part of his administration," he said. The Lantuds are known critics of Governor Dimaporo. They claimed that former Gov. Imelda Dimaporo, Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo and the incumbent Gov. Khalid Dimaporo lost in Pantao Ragat in the 2007 elections. Pantao Ragat is a 5th class municipality in the province of Lanao del Norte. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 20,097 people. - Ric Clet/LBG, GMANews.TV