By Ben V. Sumog-oy
Issues and Views

WE ARE now entering into another political season, with the 2010 national and local elections coming into play. This early, political imbroglios are beginning to loom clearly in the political horizon of General Santos City.

Political groupings, including "gangs" of few men and women which masquerade as political parties, are now posturing for public attention. People, aiming for public positions, become instant lovers of the poor and of the basic communities.

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Indeed, if there is something we should admire about our brand of politics, it is its magical power to transform people from obscurity and irrelevance into one with unwavering altruism and commitment for public welfare.

Again, General Santos City, being one of the major political centers in Mindanao, is made as a host to almost all forms of political experiments; a testing ground for electoral strategies and maneuverings.

Instead of strengthening its ranks, ragtag forces working behind equally ragtag groupings of the local political opposition are devoting an almost singular effort on the job of fanning the flames of division within the Achievement and Integrity Movement (AIM), the reigning local political party.

As political opposition forces theorize during their meetings, creating a conflict between and among AIM?s personalities should be considered as a major electoral strategy for the 2010 elections for, if this succeeds, it could provide a shining opportunity for the political opposition to retake control of the local political power.

The first major strategy is to push lawyer Tonton Acharon, the younger brother of Mayor Jun Acharon, into the verge of the political abyss where he is forced to fit against Congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio for the position of City Mayor.

The news that Tonton is splitting with his brother Mayor, who had strongly tied his political umbilical cord with AIM, is yet to rise beyond the level of rumors.

However, if it is indeed true that Tonton is posturing for a split from Jun Acharon, we are still very confident that, knowing how they were raised as a family, they will never allow the emergence of a situation where they are seen by the public as a family soaked in the blood of political divide.

In the end, the decision of Mayor Jun Acharon, being the political icon in the family, will prevail over the decision of his lawyer-brother, if indeed the rumor is true.

Nevertheless, political opposition forces consider this as a major electoral strategy. They believe that, with Toton coming face to face with Darlene in the political ring, the political alliance between former city mayor and Congressman Adel Antonino and incumbent City Mayor Jun Acharon would eventually unravel as we approach the end of the 2010 electoral campaign.

Consequently, they expect that, with the said political alliance crumbling into its feet, they can be provided with a chance to capture a bigger chunk of local political power, and this could serve as a prelude to a complete seizure of local power.

In the maximum, they expect to attain its penultimate objective of weeding the local political arena of the Antoninos. Accordingly, the weeding out of the Antoninos from the local political landscape would sap the sinews of the Acharons as a political clan, and, thus, politics in General Santos City could be easily snatched into the prey of political opposition forces.

They also postulate that the Antonino-Acharon split would result to savage political polarizations among the AIM party members and sympathizers, transgressing various social classes, and this conflict could prove politically fatal not only to AIM but also to both members of the political alliance.

When this happens, they posit, it is an opportune time for the political opposition to rise strongly from the debris of such political rupture, and permanently relegate both the Antoninos and the Acharons into the political dustbin.

With the political opposition too much wanting in viable electoral infrastructure, we are not so sure if Tonton; again, if the rumor is true; would show triviality by allowing himself to be used as an unwitting tool for this political experiment, and, by twist of fate, swallow the political baits washed in the venoms of self-destruction.

By the next issue, we will continue with our reading and analysis of the political terrain in General Santos City, with Vice Mayor Florentina L. Congson as the center of our discussion.