Alleba Politics

With the end of Rodrigo Duterte’s eligibility to run as City Mayor, the mayoral race for 2010 is going to be a very interesting one. The last time Duterte was ineligible, his longtime City Administrator and one-term Vice-Mayor Benjamin de Guzman ran for Mayor while Duterte ran as Representative of the First District of Davao City (a post currently held by Speaker Prospero Nograles). They both won. After three years, they had a falling out, Duterte ran again for Mayor against de Guzman.

This time, Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte, current City Vice-Mayor, is being groomed to run as Mayor for next year’s elections. It is rumored that the elder Duterte, former Vice-Mayor Luis Bonguyan, or 1st District Councilor Mabel Sunga-Acosta will run as Vice-Mayor with Sara under the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod Party of Rodrigo Duterte.

Acosta, is one of the six incumbent First District Councilors already ineligible to run for the City Council in 2010. The incumbents in the 1st District who will be ineligible to reelection are Acosta, Leo Avila, Nilo Abellera, Peter Lavina, Angela Librado-Trinidad, and Bonifacio Militar. Several council seats will also be left vacant in the Second and Third Districts. Some of the incumbent councilors are also rumored to run either as Vice-Mayor or District Representatives.

Possibly running against Sara Duterte are either Speaker Prospero Nograles or his son, Atty. Karlo Nograles. Historically, the elder Nograles has never won any local elections post against the elder Duterte. Meanwhile, Karlo Nograles hasn’t run for any local elective post. However, he has ran as a Representative of the party-list, Kalahi. Karlo has both a TV show and a radio show and he and his team has been making the rounds in local schools and barangays. Karlo will, obviously run, under the Lakas party banner.

Rumored to run with him as Vice-Mayor is former Mayor de Guzman. Another scenario that people are expecting is the older Nograles and de Guzman teaming up for Mayor and Vice-Mayor, with the younger Nograles running as Representative of First District. With Team Nograles, running for First District City Council seats are Joanne Bonguyan, Atty. Rene Villarente, barangay captain Joel Santes and Dr. Jeff Ho, who previously ran for Mayor as an independent.

Rumored to be pitted against them in Hugpong’s line up are incumbents Pilar Braga and Edgar Ibuyan, City Administrator Wendell Avisado, former City Administrator Tonying Llamas, former Councilor Emmanuel Galicia, former Philippine Sports Council Chairman Butch Ramirez, and former SK City Council Chairperson April Marie Dayap. And that’s just the First District.

Issues that will be hot topics for the local elections, I think, are going to be the summary killings and Duterte’s alleged connection to it, the revision of the city zoning, drainage and traffic, environmental issues specifically, the use of Tamugan River for hydropower by Hedcor and the Aerial Spraying Ban, the RH Bill and the Local Development Plan for Children , and Nograles’ support for Con-Ass.

Obviously, it’s going to be a race between the Dutertes and Hugpong against the Nograleses and Lakas. And local politicians, barangay captains, and the public have to choose which side they are on. On one side, the Dutertes are using their experience and their various accomplishments in Davao City, while Team Nograles is harping about change.

It’s definitely going to be a tight one, gloves already taken off as both the older Duterte and older Nograles have already started another word war against each other, for the nth time.

Disclosure note: The blogger is related to former Vice-Mayor Bonguyan, Second District Councilor Louie John Bonguyan, and former City Administrator Llamas.

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