Re-electionist Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (1st District, Davao del Norte) and his party mate gubernatorial bet Edwin Jubahib have gained points in results of the latest survey by Pulso Dabaw.
But the gains are no cause for celebration for the stalwarts of the Alvarez Wing of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino/Lakas ng Bayan (PDP/Laban), in the one-on-one battles with candidates of the Hugpong Ng Pagbabago (HNP).
The coming May 13 election pits Alvarez against Gov. Anthony del Rosario (HNP) in the First District Congress race, Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr (HNP) vs. Vice Governor Alan Dujali (Alvarez Wing) in the 2nd District, with Board Member Rodney del Rosario (HNP) fighting Jubahib (Alvarez Wing) in the gubernatorial race.
In the 2nd survey of the Davao Region-based pollster, conducted during the period January 15-28, the HNP leading candidates took the top spots, as in the first survey covering the period January 8-14, with the Alvarez Wing bets stuck at the bottom.
In the 2nd survey, involving 500 respondents, Alvarez gained a point (115 votes or 23%) against his score of 77 or 22% in the previous survey involving 350 respondents.
But Gov. del Rosario maintained his wide lead in the second survey, 365 or 73%. His score in the first survey with 350 respondents was 255 or 73 percent.
Jubahib was also a winner by one percentile, 126 or 18%, compared to his first survey performance (59 or 17 percent).
But Rodney del Rosario is also up by one percentile with 574 or 82% in the second survey of 700 respondents compared to his score of 284 or 81% of 350 respondents.
In the 2nd District Dujali’s score was dormant at 6% from 30 votes against the previous survey of 21 votes or 6 percent of 350 respondents.
Against Dujali, Floirendo was an unreachable star with 460 or 92 %, gaining the same percentile as in the previous survey (322 or 92% of 350 respondents).
The survey is not commissioned by any group or person, according to Jovita Salvador, Pulso Dabaw president and chief executive officer.
Rigor Zabala, Pulso Dabaw Field Operations chief, said for the 2nd survey, three five-member survey teams took responses in face-to-face interviews from 700 respondents throughout the province, 500 in the First District and 500 in the Second District. Respondents in the interviews were of voting age.
The respondents were asked the question: IF THE MAY 13 ELECTION IS HELD TODAY WHO WILL YOU VOTE FOR AS…(GOVERNOR/CONGRESSMAN)?
Salvador said the results of the two surveys which are more or less similar, is a potential indication of what could be the results of its coming surveys.
If the pattern persists in the next one or two surveys, we can safely say that the final outcome in this election would tilt favorably to the Hugpong ng Pagbabago, said Salvador.
The Pulso Dabaw head however said that other factors may intervene during the election campaign period that may affect the winning advantages now enjoyed by HNP.
Salvador pointed out these “winning advantages” as the dominance for decades of the Floirendo and Del Rosario team over the political landscape of Davao del Norte.
She adds that the support Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and the HNP, a regional political party of the presidential daughter, will play a crucial role in the victory of the Floirendo/Del Rosario team.
Salvador said that the Alvarez Wing is hobbled by a weak bench. Alvarez, still nursing the wounds of his ouster as Speaker of the House of Representatives in July last year, has picked virtual unknown Jubahib, his personal assistant, to run for governor, and Dujali against politically-entrenched Floirendo.
According to Salvador, Pulso Dabaw was expected to release anytime results of its 3rd survey, conducted from February 4 to 15 involving 2,000 respondents.
Despite his looming defeat, EDWIN JUBAHIB, the ambitious former bus conductor who wants to be governor of Davao del Norte, has a future ahead of him. Ranged against Rodolfo “Rodney” del Rosario Jr. in the race for Governor in the coming May mid-term election, Jubahib, aka Kuya Edwin, aka Ugahip, could graduate from being a former bus conductor to become a train conductor.
In between if he wins, which is presposterously unbelievable, Jubahib could turn out to be a security guard at the Davao del Norte Capitol. One of Jubahib’s favorite campaign line is that if he wins he would open Capitol to the public up to midnight and that he would be holding office there 24/7. If he holds office 24/7 at Capitol, which is again preposterously unbelievable because he could never win, Jubahib would be acting as the Capitol security guard (SG’s work 24/7, di ba?) to demean the office of the governor.
You cannot fault people who say Jubahb is an ignoramus who has no inkling whatsoever on how to run a government office much less the Office of the Governor. His dream to become governor is not only a shot at the moon; It is a ticket to a mental institution. His promise to open Capitol to the public up to midnight and to hold office there 24/7 is funny if not insane. The public transact business with Capitol during the day not in the wee hours of the dawn! Besides, the Civil Service mandates only an 8am to 5pm official work time for government employees. Jubahib could be charged with expropriation of public property if he uses Capitol for his own whim and caprice, beyond mandated office hours for those in government service. Remember Senator Antonio “Trililing” Trillanes who holed himself up 24/7 in his office in the Senate to avoid a warrant of arrest over rebellion charges in 2007? Senate President Tito Toto had said that Trililing expropriated for himself government property and should pay light and water bills. If Jubahib wins, which is again preposterously unbelievable, and orders Capitol employees to work up to midnight and holds office 24/7 in his office, he could be charged for misuse of public property and ordered to pay light and water bills and overtime pay for the Capitol workers! Why do we say that Jubahib is a sure loser? Because his fate is entwined with that of First District Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, whose own reelection is doomed. Jubahib is the candidate of Alvarez, whose reelection is being contested by Gov. AGR.
Rodney is backed by the formidable political powerhouse team of his brother Gov. Anthony “AGR” del Rosario, his father and nmesake veteran politician Rodolfo “RDR” del Rosario Sr, and cousin Second District Rep. Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo. Add to that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and her Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP). HNP has put up a full slate against the Alvarez Wing of Alvarez. Alvarez’s credility has gone down to the bottom following his ouster in July as Speaker of the House, only less than two years of holding the post over issues of corruption, among others. He has also been called as a “snake in the grass” for fighting the Floirendos and the Del Rosarios despite their having ressurected his political career (Alvarez was a loser in two previous elections against candidates of the Floirendos and Del Rosarios) by helping him win his congressional post in the 2016 election. It is said that Floirendo, who contributed P70 million to the 2016 presidential campaign of then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, also convinced President Duterte to have Alvarez named as House Speaker. Alvarez is also accused of deleting, as the then House Speaker, in the national budget development funds for Davao del Norte following a spat with Tonyboy reported as triggered by a public quarrel between their girlfriends. Alvarez, apparently drunk with power as Speaker, made life harder for his former friend and political ally by filing a graft case gainst Floirendo and initiating a House inquiry into a Floirendo company. Alvarez practically positioned himself against one of the sparkplugs of the Davao del Norte economy by questioning the legality of a joint venture between the government and Floirendo-owned giant Cavendish banana company Tagum Agricultural Development Company (TADECO). The deal involved an unproductive reservation area of the Davao Penal Colony that Tadeco developed into a banana plantation that earned millions of pesos in taxes for government and employed thousands including inmates of the penal colony. Tadeco is credited with having placed the province in the map of the world’s biggest banana producers. For decades, the company has been a key player in Davao del Norte’s progress and economic development. Alvarez’s attack on Tadeco and Floirendo is practically an attack against the province’s economy, against businesses linked with Tadeco’s banana production and against the people of Davao del Norte and the thousands of workers employed by the company. If we want to look deep into the sentiments of the Dabaonons, Alvarez could be the most hated persona in Davao del Norte today. To add to the woes of the ex-Speaker, presidential daughter Mayor Sara has also called Alvarez an asshole and a liability to the Duterte administration. She has vowed to campaign against his reelection, for calling the HNP, the regional political party she organized, as an “opposition party.” It is reported that Mayor Sara played key role in the ouster of Alvarez as Speaker and her apparent anger could doom the ex-Speaker’s reelection, when she invades Davao del Norte to campaign for Gov. AGR, Tonyboy and Rodney and other HNP bets. For all his sins, we should just allow Alvarez to wallow in his political misfortune when the dust of the May polls would have settled down. He deserves it. But let us sympathize with Jubahib, his personal assistant he whimsically lured to run for governor under his Alvarez Wing in his quixotic fight against the political giants of the pprovince. There is still hope in the future for Jubahib, the former bus conductor. His mentor, Alvarez, has been persistentlly claiming that the Tagum-Davao-Digos segment of the Mindanao Railway Transit (MRT) was funded under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) when he was the sitting Speaker. Fact is that credit-grabbing Alvarez has nothing to do with the mega-project, which is being funded by the Chinese government and implemented as part of President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” progam. Jubahib has also been repeating Alvarez’s claim so that we suspect he thinks he should get something out of the MRT. Well, when the May poll is over, and Jubahib finds himself jobless, he could apply as train conductor in the MRT on the recommendation of his credit-grabbing mentor Alvarez. As we said Jubahib has a future ahead after the election —- from bus conductor to train conductor!
Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio will start her campaign to frustrate the reelection bid of Davao del Norte First District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez in April at the homestretch to the 2019 mid-term elections on May 13.
Governor Anthony “AGR” del Rosario said Inday Sara prior to April will be touring the country to campaign for senatorial candidates of the Hugpong Ng Pagbabago (HNP), the regional political party that she founded.
While ensuring Alvarez’s political debacle, Inday Sara was also expected to mount a campaign in support of the HNP, whose banner is carried in Davao del Norte by Governor Anthony del Rosario who is contesting the Congress seat of Alvarez, 2nd District Rep. Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr. vs. Vice Governor Allan Dujali and Board Member Rodolfo “Rodney” del Rosario Jr. for governor against virtual unknown Edwin Jubahib of the Alvarez Wing of Alvarez.
Inday Sara’s political muscle was expected to get more sting in dealing a death blow to Alvarez’s doomed fate, former governor Rodolfo “RDR” del Rosario Sr., AGR’s and Rodney’s father, acting as campaign manager of the HNP.
Inday Sara in early July vowed to campaign against Alvarez as the then Speaker of the House of Representatives described the HNP as an “opposition party.”
HNP is a regional political party organized by the presidential daughter in support of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Badly hurt by the remark, Inday Sara called Alvarez an “asshole,” and “a liability to the Duterte administration,” and urged House members to kick out Alvarez as Speaker.
In mid-July of that month, Alvarez would be ousted in a coup and replaced by former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Reports said Inday Sara played key role in Alvarez’s ouster.
Inday Sara has also vowed to personally campaign against Alvarez, with HNP fielding a full slate in Davao del Norte against the Alvarez Wing of the ousted Speaker.
Inday Sara has expressed her full support to HNP and wants a clean sweep in next year’s polls in Davao del Norte, said AGR in his speech at the opening and blessing of the HNP provincial headquarters in Tagum City on Saturday, December 8.
Attending the event were Floirendo, AGR, Rodney, RDR and mayors and councilors of the HNP.
Davao del Norte Governor Anthony ‘AGR’ Garcia del Rosario said the provincial government should be run like a corporation guided by short and long term plans for effective governance.
In a radio interview, AGR echoed the style of governance that his older brother Board Member Rodney del Rosario Jr. would adopt if he wins the gubernatorial race in the 2019 mid-term election.
AGR has ditched what could be an easy ride to a reelection but is challenging Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez in the race for the First District next year.
Rodney is a shoo-in to win the province’s top post with only a token rival in former bus conductor Edwin Jubahib, a party mate of Alvarez in the Alvarez Wing political bloc.
In an earlier interview, Rodney said that in running Capitol, he would be backstopped by his extensive background in business management as a key player in the del Rosario family’s various business ventures.I will run the government like a corporation, he said.
Rodney is also not a stranger to politics, being a member of the Provincial Board, winning the seat in the 2016 election. He is the chairman of the committee on finance.
In three years I learned how to be an effective politician, he said in a press conference held at Balai Restaurant and Café in Tagum City.
Asked why he is running for governor when he could be spending time for the family business, Rodney said he is inspired by the performance in government of his father former governor Rodolfo del Rosario, Sr. and brother, AGR.
The Del Rosarios are also in the business of politics to serve the people, Rodney said.
He said he will continue the legacy of his father “who worked hard for 30 years as a politician for the good of the people and province of Davao del Norte.”
Rodney said he will continue the various programs of Dolfo and brother AGR and add more after public consultations.
Rodney said he would adopt a participatory government and would run Capitol in consultation with various sectors.
In the radio program DavNor Sayron Ta, AGR said that local government units like private companies should have long-term plans to cope up with the challenges of the future.
Sayron Ta is a weekly Sunday radio program of DavNor province aired over Davao City-based RMN-DxDC. The program is hosted by DavNor provincial information officer Ponyong Gabonada.
AGR said short term plans would address immediate needs while long term plans allow local governments to craft strategies to cope up with predicted situations and needs.
But the gains are no cause for celebration for the stalwarts of the Alvarez Wing of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino/Lakas ng Bayan (PDP/Laban), in the one-on-one battles with candidates of the Hugpong Ng Pagbabago (HNP).
Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio will start her campaign to frustrate the reelection bid of Davao del Norte First District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez in April at the homestretch to the 2019 mid-term elections on May 13.
AGR has ditched what could be an easy ride to a reelection but is challenging Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez in the race for the First District next year.
GOTO BUSINESS & NEWS DIRECTORY 