MinDA chair Alonto dies at 74
By MASIDING NOOR YAHYA
May 10, 2019
| MinDA Secretary Abul Khayr D. Alonto, 74. |
MARAWI CITY: The chairman of Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) passed away at around 7 pm on Thursday after battling cancer at the National Kidney Transplant Center (NKTC) in Quezon City. He was 74.
MinDA chairman Secretary Abul Khayr Dangcal Alonto died after undergoing angioplasty, his first cousin Aminullah Alonto Lucman told the Manila Times in a phone dispatch.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte appointed Alonto who head one of the three major factions of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), as MInDA's first Muslim chairman.
The appointment of Secretary Alonto brought to fore timely Bangsamoro representation in the overall socioeconomic development of Mindanao.
He also sat as the Philippine signing minister for Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
Alonto studied Political Science at the Cairo University in Egypt, but was a San Beda College Law student when the Jabidah Massacre occurred on March 18, 1968.
Immediately after the incident, he organized the LAM ALIF, a Muslim Youth Group of which its members became the core leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Alonto, in an unprecedented margin, was elected Vice Mayor of Marawi in 1972 and was subsequently awarded as the youngest city executive of the country during that year.
As Acting City Mayor of Marawi in 1974, before being sworn in as the city's chief executive, he joined his MNLF comrades and went "underground" to fight against the abuses committed during the Martial Law regime.
In 1979, more than two years after the 1976 Tripoli Agreement was signed, he participated in the institutionalization of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
He was elected as Assemblyman and sat as the Interim Head of the Regional Autonomous Government and subsequently elected Speaker of the Regional Legislative Assembly, in absentia after he resigned as the Interim Head of the Regional Autonomous Government.
Alonto also organized and established the Muslim Federal Party in 1982, which became the rallying Flag of the Muslim participation in the Protest Movement, and Nacionalista Party Vice President for Mindanao.
He was the Deputy Secretary General of the National Unification Council during the 1986 Snap Presidential Election and underwent serious studies on Federalism in Malaysia, United States of America, Germany, and Switzerland.
He was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Chief of Mission to Nigeria and 21 African States in 1994.
In February 2014, the original members of the MNLF Central Committee installed Secretary Alonto as Chairman of the MNLF.
Alonto belongs to well-known royal families and political leaders among the Maranao people.
One of seven siblings, Alonto is son of the late Atty. Madki (Hadji Gafor) Alangadi Alonto, former Ambassador and Lanao del Sur Governor, and Rasmia {Hadja Baì} Indol Dangcal.
He is married to Bai Norhata Macatbar Alonto.
Lucman said since the deceased is a Muslim, his family would bring his remains to Marawi City for Islamic burial and funerals according to Islamic rites. (MNY/RSP)
