2 weeks Ago By FRANK MALILONG
I spent the Holy Week in Boljoon, my wife’s hometown. Because we traveled on a Tuesday, traffic was light and I had more than enough time to appreciate the campaign posters along the highway. The most attractive and also the most ubiquitous was that of reelectionist Gov.
Gwendolyn Garcia with her running mate Glenn Soco. If this were not the campaign season, from afar you’d probably think they were actors promoting their latest movie. I did not see too many posters (an understatement) of Garcia’s rival, Pam Baricuatro.
From Boljoon, we traveled through 13 southern towns on Holy Thursday for the Visita Iglesia and observed the pitiful dearth of Baricuatro posters throughout the whole stretch. If the campaign materials could vote, Garcia would easily thrash Baricuatro, 1,000 to 1. That would probably beat (I almost flunked in college math) the forecast supposedly based on a survey conducted by an organization that I have not heard of until early this week that showed the incumbent leading her opponent 97 percent to 3 percent.
There is obviously a huge disparity between the resources of the two candidates. That explains the challenger’s heavy presence in the social media. That’s the cheapest, if not altogether free, platform through which she can deliver her message to the voters.
I know I’m going out on a limb but I would still dare say that Garcia is favored to win comfortably although not by the same margin as in the 2022 elections. Baricuatro is a political rookie but she has presence, thanks largely to former President Rodrigo Duterte, who raised her hand weeks before he was whisked off to The Hague. I met a number of people during the Holy Week who were certain that Baricuatro is Digong’s candidate and therefore they would vote for her.
Quite surprisingly, the same people said they will vote for Hilario Davide III for congressman of their (the 2nd) congressional district. Although Davide is not allied with Duterte, he at least did not betray him or his family, according to one very outspoken DDS. It’s something that they could not say, he said, about incumbent Cong.
Edsel Galeos who voted to impeach Sara Duterte. Galeos benefitted from Duterte’s popularly but abandoned the latter at a time when his support was needed most. He compared the “betrayal” to that of Judas.
Davide remains the underdog but if Galeos is unable to satisfactorily explain to his constituents his pro-impeachment vote, he might be in for an unpleasant surprise. As I have always said in this space, Duterte remains a hugely popular figure among Cebuanos and is capable of influencing the result especially of a hotly contested election. Besides, Davide now has his vastly respected father actively campaigning for him.
Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. is Argao’s most eminent son. He has kept his integrity unsullied throughout his public and private life and his voice carries a lot of weight.
It’s going to be a dogfight in the second district..
