“Best to watch how these fights in the capital region shape up in the next eight months”
The ghost month is over and Enteng is gone with it, but not after unleashing its fury over a country that never learns lessons from past calamities.
Or maybe I should correct that statement: a country that keeps electing officials who do not care about the loss of lives and property, for as long as they fatten their pockets with more than 5,000 flood control projects that do not control floodwaters.
In three weeks, Comelec will welcome tens of thousands of candidates who will want to “serve” the people and file their respective CoCs for some important elective positions, and some useless positions as well.
For the ordinary Juans and Juanas of the benighted “republic,” what impacts their daily lives more are not loquacious and oft-unintelligent senators of the realm, but their local officials, most particularly their town or city mayor.
For three years and more, these mayors will be the “kings” lording it over their constituents, and, for many of them, they will next bequeath their kingdoms to their queens (mistresses or “consorts” included), and their princes and princesses in dynasties that never say die.
In the national capital region, there are forthcoming fights for these kingdoms that are pretty interesting.
In Makati, for instance, it will be a Binay versus the husband of another Binay. It’s Senator Nancy versus Congressman Luis Campos, husband of Mayora Abigail, who this time will run for senator to replace her sister. All in the family.
Or would Kid Peña Jr., congressman of the first district who beat no less than the patriarch Jojo in the 2019 midterm elections, join the fray and upset the family applecart?
In Las Pinas, it will be another family “feud.” Senadora Cynthia, graduating after 12 years as chairperson of the committee on agriculture and blocking all efforts at passing a national land use policy, will run for mayor, against her own niece, the current mayora who is the daughter of the senadora’s brother who, before the family feud, was the longest running chief executive of this suburban city of middle-class subdivisions.
Meanwhile, the senator’s daughter, Camille, now the representative of Las Pinas in the HoR, will replace her mother in the Senate to join her brother. Again, all in the family.
In Caloocan, a former senator who is the perpetual bete noire of the Dutertes of Davao wants to fight the Malapitan dynasty of congressman-father and ex-mayor who in 2022 passed the baton to his son Along.
And Egay Erice, the three-term congressman who ran against Along in 2022, will go back to his district.
For a while, he re-introduced the former senator, Sonny Trillanes, to his city constituents, but has given up on carrying the former senator because, unlike their opponent, Sonny is “hindi madaling malapitan.”
In Marikina, a model city fashioned by the late BF, the three-term mayor is fielding his wife to fill in for him, while the in-HoR economist and Sara “tormentor,” Stella Quimbo, will contest the queenship.
Mayor Marcy will run for congress instead, against the economist’s lawyer husband, a former congressman as well. Oh how I wish Marides Fernando will break this family feud.
In QC as in San Juan, there seem to be no challengers to Francis Zamora and Joy Belmonte.
In San Juan, two senators from the second smallest LGU of the national capital region cannot seem to have any more siblings or children who could wrest the city back from the Zamoras.
And in QC, there will be pretenders, but they will just eat the dust of the mayora who is gunning for her third term. It’s in 2028 yet when the fight in QC becomes interesting.
In uber-wealthy Taguig, it looks like former Mayor Lino is contesting the seat now held by his sister-in-law Lani, the better half of older brother Alan Peter. Same template as in Makati, whose 10 “embo” barangays Taguig has “stolen”, or so say the Binays.
The erstwhile staunch ally of Sen. Alan Peter, the venerable Ronny Zamora, father of Rep. Pamy, will this time support Lino, along with the traditional Cayetano nemesis, the Tingas. Again, a battle among family members.
In the “kabisera ng bansa,” Mayora Honey will be facing her “younger brother,” the adopted political son of her late father Danny. Why are Manilenos clamoring — “bumalik ka na” – for Isko Moreno Domagoso?
Early surveys show Isko with a commanding lead, as in five to one versus his “Ate Honey” while a certain party-list congressman Sammy Verzosa, whose partner is the pretty Rhian Ramos who hopes to bring votes for Sammy.
But whether it is Isko versus both the incumbent and the new kid from Sampaloc, the tale of the surveys show it’s a lopsided contest.
Best to watch how these fights in the capital region shape up in the next eight months.
They are infinitely more interesting than the Senate contests where everyone and his mother are crowding into the BP coalition after deserting the PDP.
