Nalzaro: Gwen’s political options

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

GOV. Gwendolyn Garcia has revealed her options after her term ends next year. This, she said, was one of the issues discussed during her meeting with congressmen of Cebu province at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel last week. The options include running for either vice governor or for the House of Representatives or Senate, or returning to private life.

The last option is less likely to happen. Gwen is no longer an ordinary woman. Instead, she is already used to holding power and being accorded red carpet reception wherever she goes. She has been in the limelight and has brushed elbows with the powerful and the mighty. Kun nakatilaw na, mahigam na.

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I heard this scenario being presented before: Second district Rep. Pablo Garcia will run for governor with Gwen as his running mate. This will surface if third district Rep. Pablo John Garcia or Gwen’s daughter Christina Codilla-Frasco won’t run for governor.

The issue against Noy Pabling would be that he is already too old. That may be true, but he is still sharp. Hilario “Junjun” Davide III or any other opponent will have a hard time defeating Noy Pabling. If Noy Pabling and Gwen win, the former will bow out of politics and the latter will become a governor again.

Who will replace Noy Pabling in the second district? It would either be former GSIS general manager Winston Garcia or Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia.

The second scenario would be for Gwen to run for Congress. She will take over the second district from her father and look for a close ally that she would pair with her dad for governor. Gwen can be an effective legislator because she can speak well and is very articulate. At least, mapun-an og maanyag nga babayeng magbabalaod ang ubos balay balauranan.

The third scenario is for Gwen to run for the Senate. If she does this, she has to consider a lot of factors.

Gwen was encouraged by results of an earlier survey among possible senatoriables wherein she ranked 41st even if she hadn’t announced her intention to run for the post. But a survey is different from an election. We remind Gwen that there are only 12 slots for the Senate. And popular na ba siya sa tibuok kapupud-an? Even movie and TV personalities from Manila lost in previous elections.

Voters in Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon are very regionalistic and parochial.

They treat people from the Visayas and Mindanao as second class citizens and subject them to ridicule. Look at the present composition of the Senate. Majority of the senators are from Metro Manila and Luzon. Those who won from the Visayas and Mindanao are dependent on name recall, as their grandfathers or fathers were once senators.

Meanwhile, the negative issues against Gwen have reached the attention of voters in Cebuano-speaking areas in the Visayas and Mindanao because they listen to Cebu-based radio stations where issues like the Balili property purchase and the alleged anomalies in the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) were discussed. They will say, “Mao diay ni siya nga gisigihan og hisgot ni Super Bobby sa iyang programa sa radyo nga adunay mga anomaliya.”

Because Gwen intends to seek a national post, we should watch her movement. She might use the money of Cebuano taxpayers in travelling around the country. Bantayan gyud nato na siya kay sa pagsuroy-suroy niya sa tibuok Pilipinas basin unya iyang gamiton ang kuwarta sa mga magbubuhis.

(bobby.nalzaro@yahoo.com)