TALITAY, Maguindanao – The number one town councilor here assumed Thursday as the new acting mayor after the elected mayor and vice mayor were separately ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Kamid Buisan, top councilor in the 2016 local polls, took his oath before a representative of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) provincial office.
Buisan first served as acting vice mayor when Mayor Montasir Sabal went into hiding after President Rodrigo Duterte tagged the latter as a narco-politician in 2016 and his brother, Abdulwahab Sabal, elected vice mayor, assumed as acting mayor.
Buisan was named the acting mayor in accordance with the law of succession.
The Ombudsman dismissed Abdulwahab for alleged misdeclaration of properties in his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) for 2011, 2013, and 2014.
Buisan called on his constituents to support the government, especially the campaign against illegal drugs, as he will be serving the remaining term of office of the erstwhile elected mayor.
Town Councilor Noraissa Mato was also designated as acting town vice mayor by the DILG provincial office.
Buisan said he is still consulting the DILG as to how the two vacated slots in the Sangguniang Bayan could be filled up. (PNA)
