Ahaja brothers take tandem leadership in Tawi-tawi town

Vice Mayor Hadj. Tiblan C. Ahaja

SITANGKAI, Tawi-tawi --- The municipality of Sitangkai, founded and created on August 26, 1959, is the farthest town among the 11 municipalities of Tawi-tawi province in the so-called Sulu archipelago.

The other municipalities in Tawi-tawi are Sibuto, Simunol, Bongao, Languyan, Panglima Sugala, Sapa-Sapa, Tandubas, South Ubian, Mapun, and Turtle Island. These localities are only an hour travel via speedboat to Sabah in Malaysia.

Sitangkai is a first class municipality with a total population of some 50,000 with 23,323 registered voters residing in nine barangays: Poblacion Sitangkai, Emamsapie, Panglima Alari, Datu Baguinda Putih, Tumahing,Tanggusong, North Larap, South Larap, and Sipangkot.

This locality is also known as the Venice of the South because of its two-way channels similar to the shape of Italy, the very reason why a certain Italian tourist guy described this island-town as such, a trade name derived from that foreign country, Mayor Serbin C. Ahaja told this community paper in an exclusive interfacing.

This locality, accordoing to   accounts, became a first class municipality because of the efforts of the Ahaja brothers ---  Serbin “Silent” C. Ahaja and Tiblan C. Ahaja ---  who took turns in leading local governance as mayor and the vice mayor since 2005. Serbin served as mayor in 2005 to 2010 and then elected again in the same post in 2013 and 2016. Tiblan, on the other hand, seated as mayor from 2010 to 2013.

The Ahaja brothers are known in their town as development-oriented, workaholic, humble, soft spoken, and men of action. Many residents vouch on them as good leaders, peace loving, and God-fearing persons.

These two brothers once again are running under the National Unity Party [NUP}, the incumbent Vice Mayor Tiblan C. Ahaja is aiming once more on the mayoralty while his older brother, incumbent Mayor Serbin  Ahaja, is the running mate.

Under their incumbencies since 2005 to the present, the Ahaja brothers have imprinted phases of development projects, to mention: installation of electric power;  constructions of 12 public school buildings from Grade I to Grade 6, including the secondary level;  construction  of foot-bridges on island-barangays and in Poblacion; and construction of mosques, barangay rural health units, and community hospital , among others.

In recognition to his exemplary performance and leadership, Mayor Serbin Ahaja was among the awardees in the 2009 Ten Outstanding Public Servants (TOPS) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao given by the Civil Service Commission-ARMM.

Vice Mayor Tiblan Ahaja, in a separate interview, bared his top priorities once the people in his locality would carry him to the mayoralty post: to uplift the living conditions of his fellow- Sitangkaiwenians  through economic advocacies; better educational opportunities for the youth sector and the push for the hiring of additional teachers; sustenance of peace and security to further enhance investments; promotion of eco-tourism; and progressive and aggressive stance in the advancement of development programs and projects. (Anne Acosta)