Manuel Mamba

Mamba began his political career in 1987 when he became a member of the Cagayan Provincial Board.[2] He was the mayor of his hometown, Tuao, from 1988 to 1995.[4][2]

Mamba represented the third district of Cagayan in the House of the Representatives within four terms (1995–1998, 2001–2010).[2][4][6]

In 2001, an election protest against Mamba was filed by his rival, outgoing Rep. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal due to accusations of vote-buying and terrorism. Aguinaldo died later in an ambush.[7]

His re-election in 2007 became the subject of complaint of then Tuguegarao city mayor Randolph Ting as the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting reported discrepancies in election results from certain precincts in Tuao. Mamba, as well as his allies in the province, allegedly led the tallies by big margins. Meanwhile Juan Ponce Enrile allegedly tried to manipulate the total results to help his son who lost.[8]

During the administration of Benigno Aquino III, Mamba was appointed in 2013 as a member of the Presidential Cabinet.[6] He was used to be the Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer[3][4] and also served as the Presidential Adviser on Legislative Affairs.[2]

In 2016, Mamba, ran under Liberal Party and was was elected Cagayan governor.[9] He was re-elected in 2019 as an independent.[10][11]

In the 2022 elections, he filed his candidacy under the Nacionalista Party and ran and won against PDP–Laban candidate, Ma. Zarah Rose Lara.[6][12][13]

Under his administration, he initiated programs including the Cagayan Development Agenda (Caganda 2025), "No Barangay, No Town Left Behind", and the Cagayan River Restoration Project.[4] Meanwhile, for his efforts to maintain peace and order in the province, in 2019, Mamba was recognized as a Kapayapaan Awardee, while the Provincial Government of Cagayan became a National Awardee in the Anti-Drug Abuse Council Performance Audit.[2]

In 2016, one of his opponents, Cristina Antonio, filed an election protest against Mamba on allegations of massive fraud in the May elections, but was later dismissed by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Second Division as it was declared "insufficient in form and content."[14]

On December 15, 2022, the COMELEC Second Division released a resolution, promulgated a day prior, disqualifying Mamba from the Cagayan gubernatorial elections he had won in May, citing his violation of the 45-day election ban on public fund use. The petition was filed by Lara, his opponent. Mamba was the second incumbent governor to be given such order, after Noel Rosal of Albay, who was disqualified with finality in November over a similar offense.[15][16]

However, the said order was later reversed by the COMELEC en banc, thus dismissing the petition. Its resolution, issued on March 6, 2023, cited lack of jurisdiction, provided that once a winning candidate has been proclaimed, any petition for the disqualification is prohibited by the existing laws. Thus, the petition by Lara, considered filed more than six hours after the proclamation of Mamba, can no longer be heard.[17][18]

Gov. Mamba became prominent with his invoking of protests against the expanded military bases under the EDCA, which escalated under the administration of Bongbong Marcos. His lawyer Juan Ponce Enrile has countered by suggesting nuclear warheads should be legalized so that it can be parked around the northern Philippines.[19][20] Other governors have already joined Mamba's complaints against American militarism, which would implicate Philippine soil into conflict with China and Taiwan.[21]