DAVAO CITY–A candidate who lost in Monday’s election for barangay captain died of illness on Monday night.
Amil Bangsa Manding, former chief of Barangay 23-C, was already trailing behind his opponent in the election minutes before he expired at about 6 p.m.
At half-past 5 p.m. on Monday, Manding garnered 332 votes against incumbent Alimodin Wating Usman, who was ahead with 465 votes.
When Manding voted at about 2:45 p.m. at the Mini Forest voting station, he was seen being carried by relatives sitting on a chair.
Supporters around him barred people from taking photos of Manding, who was frail compared to his active days as a barangay leader and Liga representative in the City Council. He also served as chief of barangay affairs during the administration of then mayor Rodrigo Duterte in early 2000.
According to information, Manding was already suffering from kidney disease.
Senior Insp. Ma Teresita Gaspan, spokesperson of the Davao City Police, said the remains of Manding were brought to Lanao at dawn on Tuesday. He added the family refused to provide details of Manding’s condition.
After voting on Monday afternoon, Gaspan said Manding was immediately brought by the family to a hotel here to rest.
Unconfirmed information said Manding’s condition was aggravated by Saturday night’s shooting incident in Barangay 23-C that left three persons wounded. Those wounded were Alcon Ebrahim, 48, who was just passing by the place of the incident; Alibaser Cabuntalan, a supporter of Manding; and, Abdul Amar Asis, a supporter of Usman.
Manding and Usman were called to a meeting by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the police and Task Force Davao to settle the issue. The incident also prompted Comelec to impose a 10 p.m. curfew in the area and banned the bringing of bags inside polling precincts during the election.
It may be recalled that sometime in 2013 when Manding was the barangay captain, his attention was called by Duterte over the rampant illegal drug trade in his area.
The Davao police, then headed by retired Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa, conducted a series of raids in Barangay 23-C. Manding left Davao afterwards, and his return to Davao to run for barangay captain surprised Dabawenyos. ( /PNA)
