South Cotabato Gov. Tamayo denies he threatened BARMM mayors
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 12:45 PM Mon Jul 1, 2024
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
Pres. BBM with South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo (right) and Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo. (PCO photo)
COTABATO CITY – South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo, now the ‘eye of the storm’ of Bangsamoro political leaders, said he was misinterpreted about the issue raised by Bangsamoro Grand Coalition leaders who criticized him over threats of government audit if they don’t support the political party of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“Wala tayong sinasabing ganoon (I didn’t say that), I was misinterpreted,” he said in a radio interview.
Mayor Raida Maglangit of Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur that Tamayo told mayors during a meeting in Malacanang with Pres. Ferdinand Marcos that the Commission on Audit (COA) will audit their finances if they don’t support MILF’s United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) in 2025 parliamentary elections.
“What I said was the Marcos administration wanted the practice of good governance to serve as a model for other LGUs and make BARMM a model for the proposed Federal form of government,” said Tamayo, president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP).
“I told them (mayors) if they have good governance, we will take a peek so that it can be replicated in other parts of the country,” Tamayo said. “When I said take a peek, they concluded its COA audit,” he added.
“This denial was belied by other mayors present in the meeting,” the BGC said in a statement.
During the BGC general assembly in Tawi-Tawi on Saturday, June 29, Mayor Maglangit revealed to the assembly what transpired in the June 24 meeting between BARMM Mayors and Governor Tamayo in Manila.
“In her account of the meeting, Mayor Maglangit said that Governor Tamayo “forced” the Mayors to support the UBJP; failure to accede would mean that their LGUs will be “subjected to audit.”
“In response, Mayor Maglangit questioned the right of Gov. Tamayo, who is not from BARMM, to interfere in its affairs,” the BGC statement said.
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and Director Suharto Mangudadatu of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Rep. Mujiv Hataman took turns in lambasting Tamayo during a BGC assembly in Basilan province Sunday.