BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya –
The congressional race here is heating up and Cagayan Valley’s most closely
watched fight as the main protagonist aims for an unprecedented 29th year in
Congress while his rival seeks to become the first congresswoman of the
province.
Rep. Carlos Padilla and
three-term Gov. Luisa Cuaresma used to be political allies for more than two
decades but have turned bitter rivals in the race for the province’s lone
congressional seat.
Both have yet to be defeated in
the local political arena.
Cuaresma, who bids to extend her
winning streak in elections since she joined politics in 1988, is out to end
Padilla’s nearly three-decade of congressional dominance here.
Cuaresma,
57, rose to political stardom following the kidnap-slay of her husband, then
Bambang town mayor Benjamin Cuaresma Jr., in 1987.
The
killing of Cuaresma’s husband generated a public outcry, catapulting her to
Bambang’s mayorship and allowing her to serve for three successive terms before
being elected vice governor for two terms.
She was first
elected governor in 2004, making her the second elected woman governor of the
province after the late Natalia
Dumlao.
She and
her gubernatorial bet, three-term Vice Gov. Jose Gambito, recently joined the
United Nationalist Alliance, formalizing their separation from the Padillas,
their allies since the 1980s.
Padilla, 68, held the
congressional post here for over two decades now.
He served as mayor of the then
still undivided Dupax town before winning a seat in the interim Batasang
Pambansa in 1978, courtesy of the then ruling Kilusang Bagong Lipunan of then
President Ferdinand
Marcos.
From thereon, Padilla, provincial
chairman of the Nacionalista Party, was elected congressman from 1987 to 1992,
1995 to 2004, and 2007 to the present. He lost in his senatorial bids in 1992
and 2004.
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