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At least eight
towns and Tagbilaran City are known to have hotly contested
mayoralty race even as seven mayoral candidates are running
without opponents.
The
towns of Panglao, Trinidad, Inabanga, Tubigon, Alicia, Calape,
Candijay and Bien-Unido are among the toughest match-ups.
In
Tagbilaran, electors will witness one of the toughest electoral
battles with two longstanding political arch-rivals facing
off in a one-on-one match.
Re-electionist
Mayor Dan Lim is challenged by former Mayor Joe Torralba.
The latter have been city mayor for 14 years and have met
the incumbent city chief executive in three past mayoralty
derbies.
Torralba
virtually won all three past encounters as Lim was not able
to serve as city mayor even when the Supreme Court has decided
that he won in the 1998 elections.
The
decision came out after several appeals of the Comelec en
banc resolution that declared Lim as the winner.
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Although
the city is declared a "free zone", as both
candidates are running under political parties that
belong to the administration coalition, Torralba, running
under the dominant Lakas-CMD, is perceived to hold a
better machinery and enjoys the backing of re-electionists
Gov. Erico Aumentado and 1st District Rep. Edgar Chatto.
In
Panglao, incumbent Mayor Doloreich Dumaluan is locked
in a rematch with former Mayor Benedicto Alcala.
The
intense rivalry between the two have dragged the unresolved
rape-murder of a 16-year old three years ago that is
believed to be a crucial issue that could determine
the winner in this mayoralty battle.
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Vote-buying
is expected to flood the town as one candidate is reportedly
prepared to shell out by as much as P3,000 per voter.
Currently,
Dumaluan, one of few incumbent mayors running as an opposition
bet, is serving a 6-month suspension of the Ombudsman on the
grounds of graft charges filed against him by four municipal
councilors allied with Alcala.
Alcala
is the official Lakas-CMD bet while Dumaluan is running under
PDP-Laban.
In
Trinidad, re-electionist Mayor Osias Flor, running under PDP-Laban,
is being challenged by Judith Cajes, spouse of incumbent congressman
Roberto Cajes.
Reports
reaching the Comelec and the Bohol Provincial Police Office
(BPPO) reveal that armed groups have been identified with
both candidates.
Flor
has filed a disqualification case against Cajes now pending
at the Comelec for lack of residency.
Meanwhile,
Inabanga mayoralty aspirant Jose Jono Jumamoy (Lakas) carries
the test of proving his family's political clout in the town
which was alternately ruled by both his parents in the past
years.
Trying
to wrestle the Inabangay mayoralty from the Jumamoys are Maximo
Garcia (PDP) and Norito Torres (PDP).
However,
the incumbent vice mayor of Inabanga, Hermogenes Cenabre,
is running in the camp of Garcia.
If
the Jumamoy scion, only 21 years old, succeeds in the three-cornered
electoral fight, he could be the youngest town mayor in the
country.
Meanwhile,
the Tubigon mayoralty contest is also a close fight among
five aspirants.
Outgoing
Mayor Paul Lasco is running as the vice mayor of William Jao,
the official Lakas bets.
Jao
is facing lawyer Luna Piezas, running under LDP, Mark Herrera
(PDP), Concepcion Flores (Ind) and Constancio Cabusao (Ind).
The
post vacated by Alicia Mayor Bienvenido Molina Jr., now running
for the 3rd district's provincial board, is being fought by
incumbent Vice Mayor Virgenio Madriñan and Pedro Miasco
(PDP).
The
two-termer mayor of Calape, Ernesto Herrera II, is also facing
a strong opponent in Dr. Sulpicio Yu Jr. who has been gaining
support from Calapenhons dissatisfied with the incumbent mayor.
Although
viewed as a newcomer in politics, Yu is son of former mayor
Sulpicio Yu. His uncle, Gerard Yu, was also the town's mayor
before the Herreras took dominance in Calape. Dr. Yu is the
town's health officer for 10 years.
Reported
sightings of an armed group allegedly identified with the
Herrera's have been denied by re-electionist Vice Gov. Julius
Caesar Herrera.
In
Candijay, the political rivalry between incumbent Mayor Sergio
Amora Jr. (Lakas) and his challenger lawyer Monina Camacho
(Kampi) has reached to a point that water connection of some
residents in four barangays have been disconnected. These
barangays are reportedly the bailiwicks of Camacho.
Camacho's
group also filed a petition to disqualify the entire slate
of the re-electionist mayor for some technicalities in their
certificates of candidacy (COC).
Similarly,
the mayoralty contest in Bein Unido has also led to the filing
of disqualification petitions against the main opponents of
re-electionist Mayor Marianita Garcia (Lakas).
Running
against Garcia is Niño Rey Boniel, whose candidacy
is questioned, together with the latter's uncle a candidate
for kagawad for lack residency.
UNOPPOSED
MAYORAL BETS
The
mayoralty bets of Antequera, Balilihan, Clarin, Dagohoy, Danao,
Getafe and Lila are all running without opponents.
Lakas
is expected to win the mayoralty posts in 13 towns which it
deems as their strongholds in the province as reported by
Aumentado during an interview over dyRD's Inyong Alagad last
week.
Unopposed
are mayoralty aspirant Jaime Quibel (Lakas) of Antequera,
Victoria Chatto (Lakas) of Balilihan, Hermogenes Diezon (Lakas)
of Clarin, Germinio Relampagos (Lakas) of Dagohoy, Louis Tomas
Gonzaga (Lakas) of Danao, Theresa Camacho (Lakas) of Getafe
and Telesforo Balagosa (Lakas) of Lila.
Chatto
is the incumbent vice mayor who switched with incumbent Mayor
Dominisio Chatto, now her running mate.
Diezon,
Gonzaga, Camacho and Balagosa are all re-electionists.
Meanwhile,
despite reunification attempts by Gov. Erico Aumentado, Lakas
and Kampi have both fielded their own candidates in 16 towns.
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