By Sam Ramos
Cotabato City witnessed heightened tension at the City Council session on Tuesday, October 29, when Mayor Bruce Matabalao abruptly exited a hearing convened to discuss funding issues related to the mass layoffs of around 3, 000 contractual workers and proposed salary increases for city hall employees.
The hearing grew heated when Councilor Hunyn Abu pressed Matabalao, through the Local Finance Committee (LFC), to provide immediate access to documents the mayor had previously posted on social media regarding fund allocations. Matabalao directed a budget officer to address the request, who assured that copies of the LFC report would be provided. However, Abu demanded that the documents be presented “at this very moment.”
As Matabalao returned to the podium to respond, Vice Mayor Butch Abu interjected, reminding him to follow procedural rules by awaiting recognition from the chair. This sparked irritation in Matabalao, who remarked, “You invited me here for the COS, not for those documents.” He called for the suspension of council rules, claiming disorder in the session over document availability. Before leaving, Matabalao expressed frustration, asserting he had attended with “the friendliest gestures.”
The vice mayor later voiced disappointment, emphasizing that his intervention was solely to enforce the council’s procedures.
Once political allies under the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) during the 2022 elections, Matabalao and Abu are now set to contest the mayoralty in the 2025 elections. Matabalao, supported by UBJP and the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, will face Abu, backed by the Lakas-CMD-affiliated Serbisyong Inklusibo Alyansang Progresibo, as well as former mayor Cynthia Guiani of the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Abu is the son of the late Ghazali Jaafar, who served as the MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs and later chaired the defunct Bangsamoro Transition Commission.