Hijab seal Leni's attachment to Moro women, says Marawi folk

MARAWI CITY, Philippines - Vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo again fascinated Muslim women by wearing a hijab during her sortie here Thursday.

Robredo, an anointed candidate of the Liberal Party (LP), first amazed Muslim women when she appeared on a campaign stage in Buluan town in Maguindanao early this month with her head covered with hijab, a traditional veil.

“Respect for our traditions and our religion is very important for us. Maranaws will value such gesture and reciprocate with utmost hospitality and respect too,” said the reelectionist Regional Vice Governor Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Women who attended the LP rally cheered when they saw Robredo appear on stage in yellow hijab and each time she waved her hands to spectators.

“We were so fascinated with her actuations. It sealed her attachment to the women of Marawi City and Lanao del Sur,” Mokendi Samarudin, a mother of three grade school children, said in Filipino in heavy Maranaw accent.

Thursday’s engagement of Robredo with LP members and their supporters here was jointly organized by blood relatives Lucman, Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. and his younger sibling, the reelectionist Congressman Ansaruddin Adiong.

Most mayors in the 39 towns of Lanao del Sur belong to LP and are known for their political loyalty to Lucman and his immediate superior, the reelectionist ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

Hataman, whose candidacy is overtly being supported by the Adiongs and Governors Jum Akbar, Esmael Mangudadatu and Nurbert Sahali of Basilan, Maguindanao and Tawi-Tawi, respectively, is LP’s regional figurehead for ARMM.

Lucman said Robredo’s having covered her head with a hijab during their rally here was a tacit proof she fully recognizes the uniqueness of Moro customs and traditions.

Leaders of the Adiong family have vowed to work out Robredo’s victory in Lanao del Sur, home to the conservative Southern Mindanao Maranaw group, whose women strictly adheres to the Islamic dress code.

“When you come to us and show respect for our practices, you become part of the community,” said Lucman, who is seeking a second term as LP candidate for ARMM vice governor.

Lucman is a scion of a Maranaw noble clan in Bayang town in the second district of Lanao del Sur.

He had served as local government and social welfare secretaries of the ARMM government from 2010 to 2015, on concurrent capacity while vice governor of the region.