Zacaria Candao
{{Short description|Filipino politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Datu
| name = Zacaria Candao
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| order1 = 1st
| office1 = Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
| term_start1 = July 6, 1990
| term_end1 = 1993
| successor1 = Lininding Pangandaman
| predecessor1 = Office established
| order2 =
| office2 = Governor of Maguindanao
| term_start2 = 1995
| term_end2 = June 30, 2001
| predecessor2 = Norodin Matalam
| successor2 = Andal Ampatuan Sr.
| term_start3 = April 5, 1986
| term_end3 = July 6, 1990
{{small|acting from 1986–1989}}
| predecessor3 = Sandiale Sambolawan
| successor3 = Norodin Matalam
| term_start4 = 1975
| term_end4 = April 1, 1977
| predecessor4 = Simeon Datumanong
| successor4 = Sanggacala M. Baraguir
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| nationality = Filipino
| party = Lakas–CMD
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Datu Zacaria A. Candao{{cite web|title=Ampatuan v. Comelec G. R. No. 149803
Career
=Maguindanao governor (until 1977)=
Zacaria Candao became the second governor of the Maguindanao province succeeding Simeon A. Datumanong. He resigned on April 1, 1977. Sultan Kudarat Municipal Mayor Sanggacala M. Baraguir was appointed by then President Ferdinand Marcos to succeed Candao.{{cite web|title=Maguindanao|url=http://pia.gov.ph/provinces/maguindanao|publisher=Philippine Information Agency|access-date=9 March 2018}}
=Events leading to the 1986 People Power Revolution=
During the 1986 Philippine presidential snap election, Candao supported the candidacy of Corazon Aquino as provincial chairman of the Maguindanao del Norte and Cotabato City chapter of the United Nationalist Democratic Organization, an opposition party which is against the administration of then-incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos. He linked the interests of Muslim Filipinos in the UNIDO platform and facilitated the defection of Filipino Muslim politicians who were part of Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, the ruling party, to UNIDO.{{cite book|last1=McKenna|first1=Thomas|title=Muslim Rulers and Rebels: Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the Southern Philippines|date=10 August 1998|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520919648|pages=238–245|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wYvwWcL0_DIC&dq=Zacaria%20Candao&pg=PA238|access-date=9 March 2018|chapter=Muslim Nationalism after Marcos}} Marcos contested win over the 1986 elections later led to his ouster in the People Power Revolution of February 1986 which saw Corazon Aquino installed as President of the Philippines.
=Maguindanao governor (1986–1990)=
After the People Power Revolution, Candao was appointed as acting governor of Maguindanao on April 5, 1986 by then President Corazon Aquino. He was also the acting chairman of the Executive Council of the Regional Autonomous Government for Central Mindanao.{{cite book|last1=McKenna|first1=Thomas|title=Muslim Rulers and Rebels : Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the Southern Philippines|date=1998|publisher=University of California Press|pages=241–242|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0199n64c&chunk.id=d0e3679&toc.id=d0e3953&brand=eschol;query=Iranun|access-date=9 March 2018|chapter=Muslim Nationalism after Marcos}} Candao was elected as Maguindanao's governor in 1989, he later resigned to run as governor of the then-newly created Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and was succeeded by Vice Governor Norodin Matalam as Maguindanao governor.
=As ARMM governor (1990–1993)=
Candao participated in ARMM's first gubernatorial elections on February 12, 1990{{cite news|title=ARMM history and organization|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/content/112847/armm-history-and-organization/story/|access-date=9 March 2018|work=GMA News|date=11 August 2008}} and was elected as the autonomous region's first governor. He officially assumed the post months later on July 6, 1990. He vied for a second term in the 1993 March elections but lost to Lininding P. Pangandaman.{{cite web|title=History of DSWD ARMM|url=http://dswd.armm.gov.ph/history-of-dswd/|access-date=9 March 2018|publisher=Department of Social Welfare and Development : Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao}}
=Maguindanao governor (1995–2001)=
Embezzlement case
The Sandiganbayan found Candao along his brother and executive secretary Abas Candao guilty of nine counts of malversation in October 2008 sentencing him to 162 years of prison (18 years per count) for embezzling {{Philippine peso|21 million}} of public funds. Then-state auditor Heidi Mendoza led a team that discovered the unlawful release of 52 checks from December 1992 to March 1993. Candao filed a motion for consideration before the Supreme Court on October 19, 2011 to reverse the guilty verdict. The high court however upheld the decision in early 2012 after it found "no compelling reason" for the petition.{{cite news|last1=Tubeza|first1=Philip|title=Supreme Court affirms guilt of ex-ARMM Gov. Zacaria Candao|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/145301/supreme-court-affirms-guilt-of-ex-armm-gov-zacaria-candaSandiganbayano|access-date=9 March 2018|work=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=14 February 2012}}
References
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Category:Governors of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao