Vizcaya Congress race pits ex-allies, now rivals

By Charlie Lagasca

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.