Datu Odin Sinsuat to be placed under Comelec control after killings

DAVAO CITY —Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte will be placed under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the May 12 midterm elections after the killing of its election officer and her husband.

According to Comelec Chairperson George Garcia, the seven-man Comelec en banc unanimously approved the placing of Datu Odin Sinsuat under the poll body’s direct control during a meeting on Wednesday.

“The Commission en banc was unanimous in its decision… At this point, the focus is with Datu Odin Sinsuat,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

Garcia said the order is not yet in effect as the resolution has yet to be finalized.

“We want to provide the specific actions of Comelec in a Comelec-controlled area and the extent and limitations of its mandate. We want them to be properly defined,” the poll chief said.

Lawyer Maceda Abo, Datu Odin Sinsuat’s election officer, and her husband Jojo were aboard their vehicle traversing the Cotabato-Sharrif Aguak Road in Barangay Makir on March 26 when unidentified gunmen ambushed them.

The couple were rushed to a nearby hospital, but Jojo was pronounced dead on arrival while Maceda died while undergoing treatment, police said.

Meanwhile, Garcia said placing the entire Maguindanao del Norte province under Comelec control “is a negative.”

“That would be unfair to other areas (in the province) with no violence,” he said.