Backstabbing at PCL-Iloilo election

ILOILO CITY - Iloilo Gov. Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. is not entirely smiling after his ward clinched the presidency of the Philippine Councilors’ League  (PCL) – Iloilo Chapter August 13 at a sea-side restaurant here.


Defensor: stabbed in the back? (file photo)
Defensor: stabbed in the back? (file photo, with the national (junior and little) girls teams off 
to compete in Seattle for the Softball World Series, August 15 - 20, 2013. The two teams
are from Iloilo).

He sounds like having been stabbed in the back by one who has broken a pact after the May 2013 polls where the victorious provincial LP members agreed on who picks the head of the PCL, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), Liga ng Barangay and League of Municipalities.

“I am not commenting any further but what transpired showed it's money politics again at work here,” gripes the governor.

Accordingly, the prerogative to pick the PCL president goes to Defensor, the SK to 2nd district Rep. Arcadio Gorriceta, the Liga to Vice Gov. Raul Tupas (5th district), and the League to first district patriarch Oscar Garin Sr.


Defensor expected an overwhelming victory for his ward, Kgd. Paul Parian of Januiay town and expressed surprise “he only won by a hairline.”

Parian, ahead of PCL-Iloilo interim president Paolo Guanco of Pototan town by only three votes, will sit as ex-officio member of the provincial legislature, further consolidating Defensor’s hold in the policy making body that also holds the purse strings.

By “money politics” Defensor could be referring to the practice of buying votes. RMN radio reported that aside from P3,000 price for each councilor, the losing camp further treated followers to “housing”, the local lingo for herding voters in a restaurant and treating them overnight to free flowing food and drinks.

The broadcast outfit, quoting unnamed councilors, identified Guanco’s financial backers to be former Rep. Ferjenil Biron (4th district)  and  Garin, a former member of Congress and still political patriarch of Iloilo’s 1st district (Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Igbaras, Tubungan, Miag-ao and San Joaquin towns).

Defensor hinted he knew that all along by pelting out a one-line: “Salamat kay Congressman (Arcadio) Gorriceta kag kay Congressman Jun-jun Tupas sa ila nga suporta (Thanks to Rep. Gorriceta and Rep. Jun-jun Tupas for their support).”

His objects of gratitude are from the second district (San Miguel, Pavia, Zarraga, Leganes, Leon, Alimodian, Sta. Barbara and New Lucena), and the fifth (Barotac Viejo, San Rafael, Lemery, Ajuy, Sara, Batad, Estancia, Balasan, Concepcion and Carles).

He did not mention his junior, a representative to the Lower House for their bailiwick third district (Cabatuan, Maasin, Januiay, Lambunao, Calinog, Badiangan, Bingawan, Pototan and Mina).

He did not thank which is expected anyway, Rep. Jun-jun Biron (4th district: Barotac Nuevo, Dumangas, Anilao, Banate, Passi City, Dingle, Duenas, and San Enrique), sibling of Ferjenil, Defensor’s rival in the 2013 elections.


Defensor skirting Rep. Oscar Garin Jr. (1st district), an ally, is a loaded statement.

The Garins father and son though deny supporting Guanco.

The ruling Liberal Party had welded together the Defensor, Garin, and Tupas families in an alliance against Biron and the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in the last polls.

That alliance shows cracks in the PCL elections. Garin has mended fences with Biron, a ploy seen to step up his bid for governor come 2016, incidentally, the post that the Tupases (either former governor Niel D. Tupas Sr., and son, Vice Gov. Raul Tupas) also eye.

The patriarch Garin collided with and lost to elder Tupas in 2004. The younger Tupas ran against Defensor in 2010.

With public speculation on the governor’s health, coffee shops say it would be Garin versus Tupas in 2016. Defensor is retiring but his support will tilt the political balance.

Defensor’s junior ends his term as member of Congress by that year and will run for vice governor. His option for ally will tell the success of the standard bearer: Garin or Tupas? 

But with what the Garins have just done leads us to the Kinaray-a maxim: "Bukon takon ti madinumtanon, indi lang takon gakaliga. (I am not vindictive, I just can't forget)."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boy Scout Roy B. Babas, in memoriam

Image
By Pet Melliza/The Beekeeper Iloilo Gov.  Arthur D. Defensor (center in light shirt) and Estancia Mayor Rene Cordero (beside the governor) unveil the monument of Scout Roy.  By now, he could have been 53 and, if he married at 20, he would have grandchildren. However, Roy B. Babas, gave up his life at a tender age because of a freak accident 41 years ago, January 24, 1971. He was 12 years old and a grade five pupil. Babas, orphaned of both parents and cared for by his paternal  lolo   eked out a living on weekends and holidays as cargador , carrying luggage of passengers of vessels docking on the wharf of Estancia, Iloilo. Bionat: When I broached the idea to the governor of erecting a monument in honor of Scout Roy, he nodded at once. Scout Roy was his buddy in the Boy Scout. He promised silently beside the latter's bier that he will work it out to have a monument built for him. Defensor: Bravery and helpfullness are among the virtue...
Read more

Kalampay getting scarce and costly

Image
Today a kilo of kalampay fetches P80 to P140, at par with other fishes. This freshwater crab was almost free before. Photo above shows a freshly broiled crab. Kalampay" for sale was almost unheard of 40 years ago. The freshwater crab teemed in Iloilo rivers and people caught it for free. Today, it fetches the minimum P80 per kilo. Surprisingly, Iloilo River, dubbed the country's biggest septic tank after Pasig River, is still home to crabs and shrimps that Ilonggos consume. Mention the word today to the young generation and they would stare at you bewildered. "Kalampay? Ano ra man? (Kalampay? What's that.)" They more they would stare at you blankly if you asked them what "katang" and "baringay" are. The usage of term is getting scarcer like the fate of kalampay. "Katang" is a juvenile kalampay, the size a half thumb while "baringay" are botton size ones that migrate inland from the sea where they are spawned. ...
Read more

Broad daylight robbery by Treñas and caboodle

    Mayor Jerry Treñas and his caboodle in the mass disinformation industry are yelping accolades and jumping in glee at nothing but how good, bright and promising the fates of the Iloilo Terminal Market and Iloilo Central Market would be under his watch. Better still, miswatch.      "Public-Private Partnership" kuno; "renovation" kuno, "progress" pa gid, lapdogs in the  mainstream mass disinformation industry oogle.      What they're deliberately hiding is the obvious, that the deal is nothing but a "lease contract", a heavily lopsided one, that hands over for a song two prime real estate properties of Iloilo City taxpayers to SM Holdings, owner of the most number and biggest of malls in the Philippines.      It's neither PPP nor renovation but a broad daylight robbery where Treñas surrenders to SM the ownership of the "Central" and "Super" to SM for 50 years, renewable thereafter at SM's caprice.      By merely...
Read more