Will Gov. RDR call the shots?

BLOGISTA
By Cha Monforte

Vincent “Enteng” Floirendo won unopposed as the kapitan of Barangay Adecor, Kaputian District in the Island Garden of Samal. When news about his intention to join politics came two months ago, Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario welcomed him saying that it is already high time for the Floirendos to be back in the political sphere given the many contributions of the Floirendo family to the development of the province. The governor seemed to mean that the name Floirendo has to be back again to the political provincial limelight. It’s been about four years already that former District 2 Congressman Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr is out of public office after serving his series of three terms. Cong. Anton Lagdameo is also of the Floirendos, being a nephew of ex-Cong. Floirendo. But his family name is not Floirendo. To the man on the street, it matters most when a Floirendo is sitting in public office as he’s seen as the direct heir representation of the family which owns the largest banana company in the country- Tadeco.
Knowing that there’s this agreement between two influential political figures, kingpins- ex-Cong. Tonyboy and Tagum City Mayor Rey “Chiong Oy” Uy to support each other in making Kapitan Enteng Floirendo the Federation of Associations of Barangay Councils representative (and in making a Sangguniang Kabataan chairman from District 1 as the SK federation rep to the SP), it looks like there would be no spoiler to this plan. But we have a source who said that Kapitana Maritess Timbol, wife of Kapalong Mayor Edgardo Timbol, would be trying her luck to vie for FABC presidency, if Gov. RDR would pose again a political competition to the Floirendos. Maniki Kapitana Maritess is sure to become anew the Kapalong ABC municipal chair, for who among the rest of kapitans can go politically against her husband mayor? Kapitana Maritess is already the temporary successor of Kapitan Demitrio Maligro, who stepped down as the FABC rep when newly elected kapitans and barangay kagawads assumed office last Dec. 1.
There are souls among political observers in the province who are already doubting as to whether the Floirendo-Del Rosario political competition is so serious enough. They say that it’s only a “drama” meant to continue their political reign in their respective districts- District 2 for the Floirendos and District 1 for the Del Rosarios, and hence the province throughout. Maybe it’s partly true as when we made the political iringan a news right after the May elections, District 1 Cong. Anthony del Rosario strongly denied it saying he and Cong. Lagdameo had been frequently talking to each other. But well, maybe the political competition is only and personally between Gov. RDR and ex-Cong. Tonyboy. But noticeably, during the last May elections their political competition turned into organized one- putting apart the two congressmen in two separate political boats- between the Lakas-Kampi-CMD of the Floirendos and the Liberal Party of Del Rosarios, and each cracking party whips to mayors, councilors, barangay officials and sectoral leaders to choose as to whose leadership they would side in the clearly drawn political battle and collision. I interviewed several kapitans in Panabo City and they said they were indeed torn between two lovers in the last May polls as Gov. RDR aggressively waged a political battle through his LP mayoral bet Rico Peligro (brother of provincial administrator Rufo “Pong” Peligro)- that in the home turf of ex-Cong. Tonyboy. There was not much political competition waged in the last barangay election considering that the governor was apparently preoccupied attending his son Cong. AGR, who is still in the US for his cancer treatment and recovery. But last August there was that political blow and message delivered by ex-Cong. Tonyboy to Del Rosario camp. We knew what happened to the PCL election. As since there’s this Tonyboy-Cee O agreement for Kapitan Enteng Floirendo of District 2 and for the SK fed rep from District 1, will Gov. RDR call his own shots for Kapitana Maritess Timbol?
When we dared went to the still feared Maguindanao on the first year anniversary of Ampatuan massacre, Nov. 23, it was my first time see the bustling Takurong City and Isulan, capital town of Sultan Kudarat. There has been this childhood-carried thought that Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao were all war zones and provincial terrains. The thought was shattered to smithereens until that day we trekked to the massacre site. ‘Twas my first time to travel there. Takurong of Sultan Kudarat is a really bustling city. It is fit to be called a city (gee, it has Jollibee, the No. 1 food business indicator that the place is really a city). Even Isulan, Sultan Kudarat’s capital town, has obviously attained the level of being a city judging from its high degree of urbanization and bustling town economics. But the accomodating Isulan Mayor Dado Pallasigue, whom we managed to interview (4 of us from Tagum media) when he went back home, doesn’t harbor any ambition of turning his town a city saying that they’re content in being a municipality as it has the advantage of having lower taxation levels, which he cited as the reason why investors are coming in droves in his town. “If Isulan becomes a city, we will be forced to raise our taxes,” he said. The Isulan municipal government would have P147 million for next year, P119 million of which comes from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA). Next year Mayor Pallasigue will be constructing his P40-million Mallengke, a Tutuban-style public mall inside the public market. That after he constructed his best halal slaughterhouse. Isulan is more brisk than Sto. Tomas, Kapalong and Monkayo, which have about the same income levels with it. Isulan is about the same with Panabo City but is less than Tagum City. Nabunturan dwarfs in Isulan’s briskness, comparatively as being both capital towns (now why still dream for Nabunturan cityhood as the Mayor Pallasigue also said he’s content of having a town for as long that all basic services are being provided for his people- that needed potable water please Mayor Romeo Clarin in Nabunturan poblacion before that scaled-down bond flotation for the public market building).
As we drove home, further comparisons between areas came to my mind. Takurong City is a little less than Tagum City but is greater than Panabo City. Makilala town of North Cotabato has about the same briskness with Nabunturan, only that Makilala has more taller concrete buildings. Kidapawan City, when we got lost travelling, is about of the same level with Panabo City but is a little less than Tagum City.
Isulanons have Tagalog/ Filipino as their lingua franca. That’s also true to Takurong and nearby towns and cities. In not passing the route to General Santos City or the more circuitous route via Kidapawan City, we missed seeing Koronadal and Marbel, which the Isulan info officer Garry Casamayor said to be also brisk and bustling. Isulan has only one FM radio station, Radyo Natin, and receives radio signals from Koronadal-based RMN and Bombo AM radio stations along with those based in Takurong and Kidapawan. What is queer is that Isulan receives only one free TV signal from ABS-CBN Cagayan de Oro City, and thus Isulanon know more of the politics and affairs of CDO. I recall, that’s the same too with Trento, Agusan del Sur, the boundary town before Monkayo of Comval, and nearby AgSur towns that only watch ABS-CBN Cagayan de Oro City.
Despite the risks on the road and the potholed roads in Tulunan town of North Maguindanao when we came to see and leave the Ampatuan massacre site, I saw at last the bustling towns and cities of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and North Cotabato. Mindanao is really a rich country.
BLOGS AND BITS: Mr. Allan Laniba, former Daneco OIC general manager, has yet tor reply on the charge that he had been lax in his management of the Barangay Power Associations, 9 of the 50 of which have yet failed to remit a combined P2.8 million worth of power bill collections to the coffers of the power cooperative. Being a public utility, the power consumers and the public need to be informed on this matter. Board officials I interviewed said that Laniba would be included in the coming suit against responsible BAPA officers due to command responsibility principle…. Davao del Norte Vice Gov. Victorio “Baby” Suaybaguio Jr is one of the cautious public officials when it comes to decision matters involving finances and policies. He again showed this fine character when he recently became the acting governor – for two times for the two US travels of Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario within this year. VG Baby is an official who doesn’t want trouble or is a troublesome, power-usurping next-in-line executive. We heard that the governor would again travel to the US before the year ends to be again with his son Cong. Anthony and his better-half Madam Inday in California. The gov should be comfortable and cozy enough for VG Baby to take care of the Capitol while he is out of the country.
Three years ago Daneco ex-OIC GM Allan Laniba boasted that Daneco would be establishing its own FM radio station in Montevista to be named as Radyo Kidlat. Over three years later and now the Radyo Kidlat he talked about is nowhere in sight. Now Laniba “co-owns” the “Radyo Caritas” in Tagum City which will be closed on December 31, 2010 when he could not race to submit a provisional authority. It is assumed that he being the project proponent had used Daneco’s resources and time in researching how to establish an FM radio station including the info where to buy a radio transmitter. What happened to Radyo Kidlat and where have all the Daneco’s research costs in time, communication and travel gone?