NL Dynasties and Kingpins: Some are In, Some are Out

For many politicians and some political dynasties in Northern Luzon, northern Philippines, it was an election of upsets. For others, it was a no-contest race, with predictable results favoring the incumbents.

Pio Verzola Jr./Northern Dispatch 
Posted by Bulatlat.com

BAGUIO CITY (Nordis) – For many politicians and some political dynasties in Northern Luzon (NL), northern Philippines, it was an election of upsets. For others, it was a no-contest race, with predictable results favoring the incumbents. But underlying the patchwork of old and new faces in local government, one thing remains clear: Philippine elections, as starkly shown in the election reports from the various provinces of Ilocos, Cordillera, and Cagayan Valley, remain fraught with systematic cheating and violence.

Ilocos region

In all three provinces of the Ilocos region (less Pangasinan), the dominant political dynasties simply refreshed their electoral mandate.

In Ilocos Norte, the famous Marcos clan proved it can still easily lord it over the province, with Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. winning anew as governor, and Imee Marcos as congresswoman for the 2nd district. Long-time Marcos ally Roque “Roquito” Ablan Jr. won the Congress for the 1st district.

In Laoag City, Michael Fariñas is mayor.

Ilocos Sur, as nearly everyone expected, remains Singson country. Luis “Chavit” Singson won handily over Efren Rafanan as governor. Incumbent governor Deogracias Victor Savellano, a staunch Chavit ally, won as vice governor. Reps. Salacnib Baterina (1st district, incumbent) and Eric Singson (2nd district, incumbent) – both Chavit allies – also won by wide margins over their nearest competitors.

In Vigan City, Ferdinand Medina won the mayoralty race, and thus will simply replace his wife, Eva Marie Singson-Medina who is the incumbent mayor. The incumbent vice mayor Francisco Ranchez Jr. also won his bid at reelection.

In La Union, Victor Ortega of the powerful Ortega clan won as governor over Thomas “Butch” Dumpit Jr., while Aureo Nisce won as vice governor over Robert Dulay. In the 1st congressional district race, Manuel Ortega won over Erwin Dumpit, while in the 2nd district, Tomas “Tom” Dumpit won by a wide margin over Henry Bacumay Jr. All four winners are incumbent.

In San Fernando City, Mary Jane Ortega won handily over Godofredo Flores.

Incomplete reports from Pangasinan show Victor Aguedo Agbayani of the powerful Agbayani political clan winning over Marietta Goco for governorship; Arthur Celeste over Luis Agbayani in the 1st congressional district; Marcos Cojuangco of the famous Cojuangco family winning unopposed in the 5th district, and Conrado Estrella III (another scion of a political family) winning over Alfonso Bince in the 6th district.

Based on radio reports, Hernani Braganza, a nephew of former President Fidel V. Ramos and a former cabinet-level official under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has won the mayoralty race in Alaminos City, Benjamin S. Lim won as mayor of Dagupan City, Ansberto Baltazar Cagampan as San Carlos City mayor, and Amadeo Perez Jr. breezed in unopposed as Urdaneta City mayor. Reports reaching NORDIS from the other towns of Pangasinan remain incomplete.

Abra, Kalinga and Apayao

In Abra, as in neighboring Ilocos provinces, the electoral results were somewhat predictable at the provincial level. Congressman Luis “Chito” Bersamin Jr. (lone district) and Gov. Vicente “Vicsyd” Valera won over Carlos Aquino and Roger Luna, respectively. Vice Gov. Jaime Lo ran and won unopposed. All three are incumbent. All board members for the province’s 1st district have been reportedly proclaimed, but the 2nd district seats are still subject to election protests.

The seeming absence of intense controversies at the provincial-level vote counting, however, belies the notorious record of electoral violence in Abra in the past months. In violence-torn Tineg municipality, for example, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ruled that the municipal canvassing be done at the provincial capitol in Bangued (not in Camp Juan Villamor also in Bangued, as earlier reported) since it could no longer assure control in Tineg itself. As of presstime, however, the municipal canvass has been postponed again due to the absence of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) from the town.

Contesting the Tineg mayoralty race are incumbent mayor Eric Crisologo and Tony Benwaren, brother of slain mayor Clarence Benwaren. Reports reaching NORDIS indicate some mixed loyalties, with both Crisologo and Benwaren camps accusing the Army, the local PNP, and the local Comelec of favoring the opposite camp.

Other reports say some ballot boxes have been counted in barangay Caganayan, in violation of the Comelec’s ruling in favor of a centralized tally in Bangued, and that Benwaren appears to be leading by some 90 votes.

Despite the mixed signals, however, it appears clear that Army units and the PNP’s Regional Mobile Group are now actively involved in Tineg’s local politics and sucked into factional loyalties.

In Kalinga, no candidate for local levels has yet been proclaimed as of presstime because of hotly-contested vote counts at the municipal level. Reports reaching NORDIS said the provincial canvass is yet scheduled to begin tomorrow, since Comelec has yet to receive the election results from the towns of Tinglayan, Pinukpuk, and Tanudan.

Earlier, there have also been reported incidents of ballot-snatching in Lubuagan. The municipal canvass for Tabuk itself, the capital town, has just finished early today.

Sources say even (National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) reports are incomplete because of the same difficulties.

Tabuk results indicate, however, that Dominador Belac, who is on the comeback trail, is leading the gubernatorial race over incumbent Macario Duguiang. Incumbent congressman Lawrence Wacnang is apparently winning over Joseph Delson. In Tabuk itself, Camilo Lammawin won as mayor over Jocel Baac, while Rany Sarol won as vice mayor.

There was no official report from Apayao received by NORDIS as of presstime, but texted messages indicate that the Bulut political dynasty remains in force – with Elias Bulut Jr. leading the congressional race while his father Elias Bulut Sr. leads the gubernatorial race.

The rest of Cordillera

In the rest of the Cordillera region, it was a season of upsets.

In Mountain Province, Maximo Dalog won the governorship in what initially had been a tight race with Leonard Mayaen, with incumbent Gov. Sario Malinias and Harry Dominguez in 3rd and 4th place. Dr. Benjamin Dominguez won the vice-governorship in a close fight with current Bontoc Mayor Louis Claver.

For the lone congressional seat of the province, comebacking Victor Dominguez of the powerful Dominguez clan won a tight race against David Daoas, former chairman of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, with incumbent Congressman Roy Pilando and incumbent Vice Governor Anthony Wooden in poor 3rd and 4th place respectively.

The winning candidates for Mt. Province Provincial Board are: for District I, Luke Wanason, Ezra Gomez, Bonifacio Magalong, and Francis Dangiwan; for District II, Winston Calde, Marcial Lawilao Jr., Herman Cobcobo, and Leoncio Aquillo.

In Ifugao, incumbent Congressman Solomon Chungalao retained his seat in a race against retired Brig. Gen. Renato Paredes. However, in the gubernatorial contest, incumbent reelectionist Gov. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. lost to former Congressman Benjamin Cappleman.

In Benguet, incumbent Congressman Samuel Dangwa retained his seat, in a race against present Gov. Raul “Rocky” Molintas. Dangwa and Molintas both come from prominent Benguet clans. In the gubernatorial fight, Borromeo Melcor, an executive of the National Irrigation Administration, won an upset against current Vice Gov. Edna Tabanda, with Robert Tindaan and Abundio Awal coming in 3rd and 4th place. Crescencio Pacalso won the vice-governorship over Wasing Sacla.

The newly-elected Provincial Board Members are: for District I, Aloysius Kato, Fernando Aritao, Marvin Atos, and Juan Nazarro Jr. (with Marciano Inso filing an election protest now being handled by the Comelec central office); for District II, John Kim, Apolinario Camsol, Liso Agpas, Johnny Uy, Sario Copas, and Joseph Cosente.

The newly elected candidates were proclaimed May 14 at the Benguet Provincial Capitol by Provincial Prosecutor Felix Cabading and Comelec officials.

The Baguio City contest saw another dramatic upset, with current councilor and former judge Braulio Yaranon winning the mayorship by a hefty margin against incumbent reelectionist Mayor Bernardo Vergara.

Yaranon’s partymate Peter Rey Bautista also won over incumbent reelectionist Betty Lourdes Tabanda.

The winners in the City Council race show a mix of old and new faces (listed here according to ranking at the polls): Leandro Yangot, Daniel Fariñas, Rocky Balisong, Edilberto Tenefrancia, Faustino Olowan, Elmer Datuin, Galo Weygan, Federico Mandapat, Perlita Rondez, Erdolfo Balajadia, Antonio Tabora, and Jose Molintas.

Cagayan Valley

Reports from Cagayan Valley as of presstime show the following:

In Batanes, Vicente Gato winning over Herman Cacam for governor, and Henedina Abad winning over Telesforo Castillejos for the congressional seat.

In Cagayan, Edgar Lara is winning as governor; congressional winners are Juan “Jacky” Ponce Enrile III in the 1st district, Florencio Vargas in the 2nd district, and Manuel Mamba in the 3rd district.

In Isabela, a nationally-publicized election controversy is holding up the vote count in the gubernatorial race, with former Bombo Radio Cauayan station manager Maria Gracia Cielo Padaca reportedly leading by a hefty margin over incumbent reelectionist Faustino Dy Jr.

Leading the congressional race and expected to win are: Rodolfo Albano III (1st district), Edwin Wee (2nd district), Faustino Dy III (3rd district), Anthony Miranda (4th district), and Cesar Dy (5th district).

In Nueva Vizcaya, Leonardo Byron Perez is winning over Luisa Cuaresma for governor, while Rodolfo Agbayani is winning over Thomson Lantion for the lone congressional seat.

At first glance, the overall reports of easy wins, quick proclamations and losing candidates conceding the fight appear to show a smooth electoral process in the provinces of Northern Luzon, except for “a few hotspots” such as Abra, parts of Kalinga, and Isabela.

On the other hand, the spottiness of quick-count reports by Namfrel in the midst of intense electoral disputes in Abra, Kalinga, Apayao, Isabela and Quirino, the heavy presence and direct involvement in the electoral process of AFP battalions and PNP mobile groups in nearly all provinces, show that all is not yet well in the electoral front.  Pio Verzola Jr. for NORDIS / Posted by Bulatlat.com

Back to top

We want to know what you think of this article.