Wednesday, December 27, 2006 Councilor eyes 3rd district seat
VETERAN City Councilor Victorio S. Advincula Sr. admitted interest in running for congressman in Davao City's third district, a post to be vacated by third-termer Representative Roy Elias C. Lopez.
But Advincula said he would only run for the position if supported by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Advincula has been the lawyer of the mayor in many court battles.
He said he had been thinking about running for congressman before retiring from politics, but was encouraged further by a pre-Christmas statement of Duterte that he is not yet committed to support candidates for any position -- councilor, vice mayor and congressman -- in the third district.
According to Advincula, Duterte made his no-commitment statement during a powwow with Vice Mayor Luis Bonguyan and councilors one evening less than a week before Christmas.
"In that meeting, Mayor Rody categorically said he has yet not committed his support to anybody and that time (of announcing of mayor's support) would come sometime last week of January at the earliest," said Advincula.
The mayor also said their political camp will soon make a series of surveys on the strength and popularity of possible candidates to guide the group as to the "winnability" of aspirants, he said.
Advincula said Duterte had encouraged the aspirants to announce their intention to run so that their names can be included in the surveys that their political party, Hugpong, is planning to conduct.
Advincula is the latest personality to have admitted publicly, or in private, his interest in running for congressman in the third district.
Bonguyan and Councilor Jesus Zozobrado Jr. are also eyeing the position if certain conditions favored their candidacy.
Bonguyan, who had reportedly registered as a voter in the 3rd district middle of December, was quoted to have said he would willingly run for congressman in the third district if given the go-signal by Duterte.
Zozobrado, a law practitioner and one-time undersecretary of the Department of Justice, is also being eyed to be a possible candidate for congressman.
A report indicated that Zozobrado is not averse to running for congressman if he will be the official candidate of the ruling Lakas-NUCD headed in Davao City by House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles, Zozobrado's longtime law associate-cum-client.
Both Advincula and Zozobrado will reportedly be happy if the third district will be declared a free zone by Duterte. In a free zone, Duterte will not be supporting a particular congressional bet.
Another prominent local politician whose registration as voter in the third district has given rise to speculations is former mayor Benjamin de Guzman.
Leading previous surveys for congressional wannabes in the third district were Dr. Rene Elias C. Lopez, an incumbent councilor, and Councilor Wigberto Al-ag.
Lopez is the brother of incumbent Representative Roy Lopez and son of late former Davao city mayor and third district congressman Elias B. Lopez, while Al-ag has a reputation of being a philanthropist and had topped the council derby in the district in 2004.
However, supporters of Advincula, Zozobrado, and Bonguyan claimed that Lopez and Al-ag are not unbeatable considering their lackluster performance in the council where both, they derided, are members of the "committee on silence." (BOT)
