Datu Odin Sinsuat: 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 Philippines News Agency, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia stated that 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. “Yesterday, the Commission en banc was unanimous in its decision… At this point, the focus is with Datu Odin Sinsuat,” he mentioned in an interview on Thursday.

Garcia noted that the order is not yet in effect as the resolution has yet to be finalized. “We want to provide the specific actions of the Comelec in a Comelec-controlled area, the extent and limitations of its mandate. We want them to be properly defined,” the poll chief explained.

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 they were ambushed by unidentified gunmen. The couple were rushed to a nearby hospital but Jojo was pronounced dead on arrival while Maceda died while undergoing treatment, police reported.

Meanwhile, Garcia remarked that placing the entire Maguindanao del Norte province under Comelec control “is a negative.” He elaborated, “That would be unfair to other areas (in the province) that have no violence.”