Adiongs still dominate polls in Lanao del Sur

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines – It’s still all in the family for the Adiongs in Lanao del Sur.

Governor Mamintal “Bombit” Adiong had more votes than his closest rival. He garnered 267,887 votes while his rival, Gapor Randy Usman, managed to get only 56,650 votes as of Tuesday night, May 10.

His son, Mujam, who is running for the vice gubernatorial post in Lanao del Sur, appeared to be heading for the win.

Bombit’s younger brother, Zia Alonto Adiong, is also leading in the congressional race in the 1st district of Lanao del Sur.

Zia, who served as spokesperson of Task Force Marawi during the five-month siege in Marawi in 2017, garnered 176,070 votes.

His opponent, Fatani Abdul Malik, had only 25,210 votes as of Tuesday night.

Another brother, Ansaruddin Alonto “Hooky” Adiong, is winning the mayoral race in their hometown in Ditsaan-Ramain in Lanao del Sur.

Hooky once served as former governor of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao after former governor Zaldy Ampatuan was removed from office following the Maguindanao massacre in 2009. – Rappler.com

Froilan Gallardo is a Mindanao-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship.