Politika haka-haka, ka-ilyanism votes

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has filed her candidacy as Congressional Representative in the 2nd district of Pampanga.The President. Yes. Scandalous but true. I googled to search for presidents in the world who may have ran for a lower position and I haven’t come across any. Unless there is, correct me.

But if not, President Arroyo will go down in history for this hilarious, if not ridiculous act of running for Congress – from President to Congresswoman. Under claims of continuing public service which is too good to be true, Ms Arroyo’s candidacy as congressional solon is incredible. She could have established a Party List or an organization of her own to be more dignified.

Yet, she chose to run the coming elections on the pretext of “serving the hardworking people of my province”. Apparently, there is no other choice for this corruption- plagued president but to run for Congress and enjoy immunity from suit as she has enjoyed as the President.

As it stands, she faces charges of corruption including the fertilizer fund scam which allegedly was used for the 2004 campaign in her favor, the alleged corruption in the poll automation project and the Macapagal Boulevard project, among others collectively costing the Filipino people some P7.3 billion pesos, IBON reports say.

Included are charges that her husband Mike Arroyo received millions of dollars worth of kickbacks on a US$329 million state broadband Internet infrastructure deal awarded to the Chinese-run ZTE Corporation. Gloria Arroyo who began her presidency in 2001 dragged the country with a foreign debt of $54.9 billion as of end September 2007, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reports.

After the Marcos government, GMA is rated as the highest single borrower with P2.44 trillion borrowings from 2001 to 2005. So alarming that foreign borrowings consumed almost 75% of Philippine budget.

Arroyo runs against Filipinas Rosario Dayrit Cea-Sampang and a certain Feliciano Serrano, an electrical engineer from Porac town. Seemingly, the 2nd district of Pampanga will see the reign of Gloria Arroyo for the next three years. What a feat!
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In Baguio, two candidates who trace their roots from the Applai tribe of Mountain Province are gunning for Congress. This means splitting the votes of Applais who are believed to have a sizable vote in Baguio. Where clanship is a strong basis for voting, I wonder on the chances of winning of either incumbent councilor Rocky Balisong and former councilor Leandro Yangot who both trace their roots from eastern Sagada, Mountain Province. As it stands, Balisong and Yangot need to separately rally votes from other sectors aside from co-tribes who might also be loyal to other candidates for their own reasons.
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Other congressional contenders are former Baguio mayors Bernardo Vergara and Braulio Yaranon; incumbent Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr., Felipe Ramos and Dwight Bello III.Edgar Avila, and Rabindranath Quilala.

Contending for Baguio mayor is former mayor and-incumbent congressman Mauricio Domogan who traces his roots from Besao, Mountain Province. He will be slugging the mayorship against incumbent councilor Jose Molintas who comes from the Ibaloi tribe of Benguet. Where being ka-ilyan and kinship is a basis on choosing candidates, Domogan and Molintas rally support from other sectors including lowlander migrants in Baguio. It’s a ball with other candidates- incumbent Councilor Elaine Sembrano, Marquez Go; Erlinda Lazo, Ramon Labo, Peter Puzon, Julius Mandapat Jr., Ruben Barcelo and Guillermo Hernandez.
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Back in Mountain Province, Governor Maximo Dalog, Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey,Engr Arnold Pilando, former Sabangan mayor Jupiter Dominguez, and former Sagada mayor and Presidential Adviser for Cordilleras (PACA) Tom Killip are all rivaling for the congressional position of the lone district of Mountain Province. As usual, the clannish attitude and proven behavior to choose a candidate based on kinship will be noted in the coming elections.

Dalog traces his roots from Bila, Bauko which makes him get votes from lower Bauko. His wife, Cecilia Yawan Dalog is from Bontoc and one of his sons married in Besao. This makes him get some sizable votes in these vote-rich towns of Bauko and Bontoc. Yet Odsey takes his clout from his bailiwick Bontoc and also from Besao where one of his children got married in. Odsey also traces his roots from eastern Sagada making him get votes from here.

That makes three of them sharing in the 5,000 plus votes of Sagada between Killip, and Dominguez who also traces his roots from southern Sagada. Yet another contender from Sabangan is going to snatch votes from Dominguez. Pilando who also comes from Sabangan and Killip who also traces his roots from sitio Bangnen, will have a share in the pie in Sabangan.

Arnold Pilando, brother of deceased and former representative Roy Pilando who has poured his pork barrel funds in vote rich Paracelis, is speculated to be taking a sizable votes from this far flung town located in the border of Isabela. This leaves the eastern provinces of Barlig and Natonin including Sadanga, Tadian and upper Bauko as contending places for wooing votes.

How far is the reach of the candidates’ relatives and kailyans in these contending areas makes one gauge his contributory success. Yet, another consideration is the accomplishment of the candidates and perceived utang na loob a voter has over favors he received thus making him/her loyal to a candidate.

For governorship of Mountain Province, incumbent vice governor Louis Claver and incumbent board member Ezra Gomez will share in Bontoc votes, both coming from the capital town; and work for other votes from the rest of the nine municipalities. Incumbent board member Marcial Lawilao from Bauko seemingly has his bailiwick in vote-rich Bauko but has to share votes with comebacking governor Leonard Mayaen from Besao, who also had been living in upper Bauko making him have some confident votes here. This leaves the other towns of Sagada, Tadian, Paracelis, Barlig, Natonin, Sadanga, and Sabangan to woo votes from. A rather spacious playing field for the gubernatorials, not to forget comebacking candidate for governor former mayor of Harry Dominguez and another candidate Albert Padyaos.
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Back home in Sagada, incumbent mayor Edward Latawan who traces his roots from eastern Sagada is gunning again for the mayorship. He is vying against former vice mayor Francis Tauli who lost to Latawan in the 2007 elections. Engineer Richard Yodong from Poblacion Sagada who traces his roots from southern Sagada goes for vice mayorship against incumbent vice mayor Jerry Ticag and incumbent councilor John Guitilen, both from northern Sagada.

And not to forget the evils of vote buying, ABC councilor Jaime Tigan-o Dugao said, vote wisely.