An emerging family feud born out of politics in the powerful Mangudadatu clan was believed nipped in the bud as mediators stepped in to bring the opposing parties together.
Lt Col Jaime Sangki of the Maguindanao-based 6th Infantry Division Civil-Military Relations, said as a relative, he is most affected by the political conflict between his kindred supporters of former Sultan Kudarat Governor Suharto Mangudadatu and former Maguindanao governor and congressman, Esmael Mangudadatu who are third-degree cousins.
Esmael did not run for re-election previous polls prior to the May 9, 2022 exercise. But he ran against incumbent Maguindanao Governor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu, wife of Suharto in the May 9, 2022 polls.
In pre-election speeches, Esmael said he had shied away from a political conflict involving his own family, unloading himself and his siblings of disputes, as they joined the United Bangsamoro Justice Party. He and brother Zajid have both lost– him to incumbent Sangki-Mangudadatu, and Zajid in the congressional race to Mayor Abubakar “Tong” Paglas of Datu Paglas.
Sangki said as a relative he went beyond his official duties as a soldier, and had explored on some extended path to call-of-duty, in a bid to get the parties to sit down for a peaceful dialogue and settle their differences in the name of common ancestral roots.
Sangki spoke to Manila Standard early Monday by phone from a hospital bed where he was recuperating from nose bleeds the night before.
His uncle, Bangsamoro Member of Parliament (MP) Ali Sangki, also sent in words protesting a supposed media play out of a row among close relatives, including “insinuations of political motivation” behind the arrest on Sunday of Pandag Mayor Khadafe Mangudadatu for alleged involvement in a 12-year old twin murder case.
MP Sangki said he was sending notes from his native Ampatuan town for some oversight functions over a vast sports complex he wanted developed so that the coming generations would be more inclined to sports than ever for armed conflict.
Political observers have discerned the emerging feud in the Mangudadatu political clans in Buluan Maguindanao and Lutayan Sultan Kudarat Province. The two towns are separated by the Buluan Lake which pours which onto the historic Pulangi River in Mindanao.
The Sangkis are related to both the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. Though, Ali is perceived closer to the Lutayan-based Mangudadatus, being the father of Governor Bai Mariam, who is married to an erstwhile Sultan Kudarat Governor, Suharto “Teng” Mangudadatu.
Sangki said he and few others among their relatives earlier called for a gathering of clan members at the tombs of their great-grandparents—Sultan Mohammad Bayao and his children Datu Jambangan and Bai Salunay—in Midsayap and in Libungan Torreta, both in Cotabato province.
But attendance was less than their expectations despite the ceremonies of a “kanduli” (thanksgiving) among members of the clan that included the Sangkis, the Mangudadatus, Dilangalens, the Fernadezes, among others.
Ali has been named after one of the Sultan’s son Rajah Mud Datum Ali, a historic figure in the early years of the American colonial period.