Presidental race foes still lose: Political clans ‘fail’ to deliver vs Du30

CEBU, Philippines - The votes promised for presidential and vice presidential bets were not delivered by their local allies in three component cities and in Argao town, the bailiwick of Liberal Party-Cebu standard bearer Governor Hilario Davide III, as shown in the transmitted results to the Cebu Provincial Board of Canvassers.

Argao, however, was able to deliver 18,075 votes for LP's vice presidential bet Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo, who defeated Alan Peter Cayetano (9,313 votes).

Davide and the known political and influential figures in Cebu like the Gullases, Duranos, Osmeñas failed to give the winning votes for their presidential candidates in their respective "territories".

Cebu Fifth District Representative Joseph 'Ace' Durano and his father Danao City Mayor Ramon "Nito" Durano III, chairman emeritus of Bakud Party, had promised to Senator Grace Poe and her running-mate Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero the greatest margin of votes in the fifth district and in the entire Cebu province.

But Poe only got 22,510, second only to Duterte with 30,908. Poe's runningmate Francis "Chiz" Escudero garnered 16,123.

The fifth district has a total voting population of 350,000 of which Danao City accounted for 83,105. Bakud Party also controls 89 percent of the elective positions in the district. Out of 1,789 positions, 1,587 were occupied by Bakud Party members.

Cebu First District Congressman Gerarld Anthony "Samsam" Gullas and his grandfather, former congressman, governor and Talisay City mayor Eduardo "Eddiegul" Gullas, also promised to give LP candidate Mar Roxas and Robredo but they fell short.

Talisay City has 114,294 registered voters, second only to Mandaue City (183,023) in the province. But it was Duterte (59,030) and Cayetano (36,196) who enjoyed a decisive margin in Talisay. Roxas only got 20,583 votes.

Eddiegul, though, retook the mayoralty post, unseating incumbent mayor Johnny Delos Reyes.

Toledo City Mayor John Henry "Sonny" Osmeña, on the other hand, backed the candidacy of Vice President Jejomar Binay, who only got 5,178 votes while his runningmate Gringo Honasan got only 727 votes. Duterte and Cayetano got 39,294 and 23,670 votes. Toledo has over 103,000 registered voters.

And although Argao is the hometown of the governor, Duterte won there with 16,574 votes, followed by Roxas with 14, 715 votes and Poe with 3,550 votes.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, Cebu's partial and official results from 48 of Cebu's 51 towns and cities, showed that Duterte garnered 738,487 votes followed by Roxas with 443, 661; Poe with 187, 828; Binay with 69,648; and Miriam Defensor Santiago with  18,849 votes.

In the vice presidential race, Robredo got a wide margin in Cebu with 570,350 votes over Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (435,046); Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (190,564 votes); Senator Francis Escudero (143,486 votes); Senator Antonio Trillanes (23,338); and Senator Gringo Honasan (21,213).

Davide congratulated Duterte for winning presidential battle, especially in Cebu.

"Obviously, he is the choice of the majority of the Filipinos. We should respect the will of the Filipinos. In Cebu, he was simply unstoppable based on the results," the governor said.

Davide said he will certainly cooperate with the administration of Duterte, saying, "We will support whoever is elected president as long as the interest and kauswagan sa Cebu."

He felt bad for Roxas, though, lamenting that "We tried our best to make Roxas win, but Duterte was unstoppable and the fact nga Bisaya siya (helped)."

Reelected third district Representative Gwendolyn Garcia, who backed Duterte, said "people power" swept Duterte to the presidency.

"It's practically the voice of the people that has now installed him into being the frontrunner in the current count. I don't think it could be overtaken. People look for performance, not words, and Davao City speaks volumes already," she said after her proclamation Tuesday.

Garcia said people are looking forward to a Duterte presidency, where there will be a "clear and decisive action against the present ills of the country, drugs, criminality, and corruption."

"He is our hope as a true leader that will fix this messed up country of ours," she said.

The Garcia-led One Cebu party had vowed to deliver one million votes for Duterte.

Argao Mayor Edsel Galeos, on the other hand, acknowledged that Duterte was really pulling away from his rivals even before the elections in so far as the choice of the electorate in the town was concerned.

"Bisan asa man gyod siguro, bisan unsaon pag-discourage ang mga tawo di botohan si Duterte, kusog man gyod siya. Ang uban moingon gani nga 'sensya lang ka mayor pero Duterte gyod mi.' Makita gyod nga nag-una siya," he said in a telephone interview with The FREEMAN.

Galeos believed that Duterte's tag as a staunch advocate against crooks and criminals propelled him to his victory in Argao.

The mayor mentioned the gruesome killing of a 15-year-old girl in the town, which he said might have fueled the people, especially those enraged by the incident, to vote for a leader who would address the criminality in the country.

To recall, the victim died after her head was smashed with a stone. The perpetrators then dragged to and left her lifeless body in a bushy and secluded area. 

Galeos hoped for a better nation during Duterte's presidency. "We wish nga maayo niya pagkadala ang nasud. Di na lang nang mag-away-away. Let us move on," he said.

The Argao mayor was a former LP ally. He left the party when he failed to get a certificate of nomination and acceptance from the party, which was instead given to his rival.

In Danao City, the bailiwick of the Duranos, Duterte also led over his rivals despite the Duranos' support for Poe.

In an interview after his proclamation as fifth district representative winner-elect yesterday, Ramon "Red" Durano VI, the incumbent vice mayor of Danao, told reporters that his clan knew that it will be a challenge for Poe to win the elections considering that Duterte traces his roots in their place.

"Our objective was to put Senator Grace Poe in the second spot. Based sa akong internal surveys, taas kaayo si president-elect Duterte… It's the people's vote. We respect that. We are hopeful that his (Duterte's) presidency will be fruitful," Red said. — (FREEMAN)