Incumbent South Cotabato governor, erstwhile rival poised for victory

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 13 May) – Reelectionist South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. and his erstwhile archrival, former second district representative Ferdinand Hernandez, are poised for victory, partial and unofficial results of the May 12 local elections showed.

Tamayo and Hernandez joined hands under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas for this year’s polls. In the 2022 elections, Tamayo, now on his second term, and Hernandez slugged it out in the gubernatorial race.

Based on the partial and unofficial results as of 10:01 a.m. on May 13, Tamayo is headed for a landslide win with 283,422 votes over Shine Miguel’s (Aksyon) 122,041. There are two other candidates whose votes were less than 2,000.

South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. addresses farmers and agricultural stakeholders during the Consolidated Rice Production and Mechanization Program Farmer’s Field Day and Harvest Festival on Friday, 15 September 2023, in Barangay Dajay, Surallah, South Cotabato. MindaNews photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO

Hernandez was leading incumbent Rep. Peter Miguel (Aksyon) with 86,220 and 63,276 votes, respectively. Peter is the husband of Shine.

In the first congressional district, incumbent Rep. Ed Lumayag (PFP) was topping the race with 55,042 votes, followed by Gerry Barrientos (Aksyon) with 40,151, Leo Cordova (PDP-Laban) with 18,631 and independent Ampo Emer with 785.

In the newly created third legislative district, Dibu Tuan (Aksyon), former mayor of Lake Sebu town, got 69,486 votes, followed by Antonio Bendita (PFP) with 60,861, independent Mike Matinong with 14,143 and Ahloy Mesias (independent) with 1,832.

 Reelectionist Vice Gov. Arthur Pingoy, who is unopposed, received 172,024 votes.

In Koronadal City, the provincial capital and seat of government of Region 12 or Soccsksargen, reelectionist Mayor Eliordo Ogena was leading with 55,166 votes against Yanyan Gumbao’s 32,896 votes. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)