GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 09 July) — Cotabato City mayor Mohammad Ali Matabalao on Friday named four highly influential community leaders to serve as deputy mayors and help him on matters that will ensure smooth and impartial delivery of services to residents.
Shortly after his proclamation in early June as the new city mayor, Matabalao (United Bangsamoro Justice Party) said it will be a good idea to have deputy mayors who have good influence among communities to help him in making decisions for their respective sectors.
The four deputy mayors are for Muslim communities, Christian settlers, Indigenous Peoples and Filipino-Chinese community.
The first city mayor in Mindanao to appoint deputy mayors representing ethnolinguistic groups was Rodrigo Duterte who was mayor of Davao City for 22 years before he was elected to a six-year term as President in 2016.
Matabalao named Hadji Abdullah Andang, a popular school administrator who had earlier served as councilor and vice mayor, to be his deputy mayor for Muslim communities.
Businessman Art Thomas Calingasan, 65, is the deputy mayor for Christian settlers. Calingasan’s clan hails from southern Luzon but settled here since he was a boy.
Matabalao also picked Lumad leader Jun Panalag as deputy mayor for Indigenous Peoples’ concerns and Ongpin Yu Ekey, whose family runs a popular hardware business and is considered among the city’s old-timers, as deputy mayor for the Filipino-Chinese community.
Matabalao said he chose the four leaders because they share the same principles and advocacies.
He clarified that the deputy mayors will not duplicate the job of the vice mayor as they are not part of the regular structure of the city government.
The mayor said the deputy mayors will be consulted on major decisions that will affect their respective groups.
The four will also be part of a Council of Leaders, the list of which is still being finalized. The council will be composed of leaders from various religious groups, the business sector, transportation, agriculture, education, fisherfolks, senior citizens, the youth, persons with disability, solo parents and overseas workers.
The mayor did not say if the deputy mayors are considered volunteers or will be receiving salaries.
Andang said he accepted the position as it is a job and obligation of every Cotabato resident to serve the city. (Rommel G. Rebollido / MindaNews)
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