The office of Maguindanao del Sur Gov. Bai Mariam Sangki Mangudadatu said she will respond to an administrative complaint filed by the vice-mayor of Pandag town before the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Lawyer Israelito Torreon, representing complainant Vice-Mayor Bai Zihan Mamalinta Mangudadatu, said the complaint stemmed from a video clip posted on social media showing an apparent commotion inside a room, following a brief confrontational between the two women.
Reporters sought Sangki-Mangudadatu’s reaction following an exclusive video interview with Torreon over the KutangBato Vlog through which the lawyer disclosed an administrative complaint of “several counts” was filed against the governor before the BARMM.
The BARMM chief minister will then constitute an arbitral forum to hear the complaint, sources said.
Reporters said security guards stationed at the gates of the provincial capitol would only allow visitors with prior approved appointments to get in, citing what they said were the busy schedules of the governor.
Though, one clear outward signal from inside was that the governor’s office would answer once it received an official copy of the complaint.
Torreon said an administrative complaint cites Gov. Mangudadatu for allegedly “implementing a court order” before the appeal period prescribed or expired, allowing the assumption of Mohajeran “Odjie” Balayman as the mayoral candidate garnering a “plurality of votes,” according to a decision issued by Presiding Judge Annabelle Piang of the 12th Regional Trial Court.
The complaint was filed before the Office of BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ibrahim, Torreon said. But Governor Mangudadatu and Balayman are also known for questioning BARMM’s jurisdiction over local government units.
BARMM interior and local governments Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said the Bangsamoro Organic Law (RA 11054) retains the provision of the Expanded Autonomy Act (RA 9054) on administrative supervision over LGUs.
Sinarimbo added that part of that function devolved under RA 9054 is that the autonomous region’s interior and local government agency keeps the lists of succession of local officials in its official records.
Observers see possible political scenarios from such legal controversy: 1) BARMM effectively gains jurisdiction over LGU Maguindanao, in particular; 2) Mangudadatu and Balayman may ignore the
administrative complaint, because they do not recognize BARMM’s jurisdictional powers over LGUs; and 3) the governor may elevate the controversy with the Office of the President through the Department of the Interior and Local Government which may invite the parties to cordially settle the issue pending resolution of “two opposite writs standing”—one from the court for Balayman and another from the Comelec by which prior proclaimed Mayor Khadafe Mangudadatu gets reprieve.
One lawyer asked by the Manila Standard for this story (albeit anonymously for being a non-party to the case), said the Comelec injunction also prevents BARMM from further acting on anything related to the electoral issue.
In addition, a status quo ante order has been issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government on the contending parties, and for local and the police authorities to help implement the DILG order. However, the administrative complaint, he said, stands independently of the election controversy. BARMM is a special LGU and thus, its officials are deemed local government authorities.
Another lawyer said courts and quasi-judicial bodies like Comelec and other forums sitting as arbitration bodies, have had varying appreciation of recorded materials used as evidence. But the bottom line is a requirement for intervention of established technical expertise as to concurrence or non-concurrence for an authenticity of video materials used in administrative or criminal procedures.