31 of SIAP mayoral bets elected

COTABATO CITY — Only eight of the 40 mayoral candidates in Lanao del Sur of Bangsamoro region’s pioneer regional political party, the Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo (SIAP), were defeated by rivals during the May 12 elections.

Established in 1954, Lanao del Sur, which has 39 towns and whose capital is Marawi City, is the oldest and largest of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Regional officials of the Commission on Elections in BARMM and ranking SIAP leaders were quoted in radio reports in Cotabato City on Sunday as saying that 31 candidates of the party for mayors in Marawi City and in Lanao del Sur got elected during the May 12 electoral exercise.

SIAP is known for its primary agenda of promoting commerce and trade in agricultural areas in Lanao del Sur and elsewhere to generate employment for villagers and promote micro, small, and medium enterprises in far-flung areas covered by the government’s separate peace compacts with the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Reelected Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong, Jr., a senior official of SIAP, told reporters on Sunday that they are grateful to Maranao community leaders, among them merchants, and barangay officials who campaigned for their 40 candidates for mayors in Marawi City and the 39 towns in the province. — John Felix M. Unson