OVER two months elapsed since the May 13 elections which radically changed the political spectrum in Davao del Norte. The Del Rosario and Floirendo families which rendered government service in the province for nearly six decades were, in one inconceivable electoral contest, vanquished.
It is with extreme difficulty to write about political post mortem but I am compelled to because there are more to victory and defeat. Besides wounds have healed and there are lots to expect for in and out of politics.
The venerable Don Antonio Floirendo who started the banana industry in the Philippines fielded his brother in-law Rodolfo “Dolfo” del Rosario to enter the political arena with a single objective: to requite the success and modest abundance his firm derived from Davao del Norte where Tagum Agricultural Development Corporation (Tadeco) was established. Unknown to many, the verdant fields of banana plantations that, in recent times been subject of controversy and Floirendo himself to unkind vexation, was nothing but a virtual marshland. Dolfo was his right hand man and being his most trusted man it was a supreme sacrifice to field him to render public service. That was to be the unwritten order of Don Floirendo, thus, his son Antonio “Tonyboy”, grandson Anton, Dolfo’s sons Anthony and Rodney were made to serve. The decision proceeded from the desire to serve and not from the desire of power and greed.
The growing up children of Floirendo and del Rosario finished their university degrees in various disciplines. The Floirendos took over the helms of the businesses under the flagship Anflocor and the Del Rosarios to the family’s real estate, a rural bank and a modest banana farm. This even stirred a rumor of a family rift but these changes in the corporate structures were crafted and agreed on by Floirendo and his brother in-law Dolfo. I know this for a fact.
The demise of the revered Floirendo altered the political scenario in Davao del Norte. The political capital which he had built through the years progressively chipped off. With Tonyboy and Anthony and Rodney left with meager resources and just a modicum of political organization, fighting a well-oiled machinery of Bebot Alvarez was an uphill battle. For Tonyboy, it was more telling because even the Tadeco votes were paltry. It tells a story.
Months before the last med-term elections, Governor Dolfo had intimated that the May 13 elections will be his last and will define the participation of his children in future polls and other endeavors. When we get down to brass tacks Anthony and Rodney were actually pulled out from their respective employments and businesses to fill the gap since, except for Tonyboy, the Floirendo children had become the captains of ANFLOCOR enterprises. While Anthony had a sterling performance when he was congressman and then later as governor he will have second thoughts of throwing his hat again in politics. If I know Rodney he would place premium on the family enterprise. For the Del Rosario children and family therefore it is like saying, ‘if they are no longer needed by the people of Davao del Norte, why insist?’ For Tonyboy, it will all depends on the story that will be weaved by the family enterprise. For now he has many options to opt for.
Was the devastating defeat of the Del Rosario and Floirendo to include their mayoral, Sanggunian bets a celebration to Alvarez, his team and the political constituents of the province? Does not their triumph partakes of a pyrrhic victory when you consider the billions of pesos spent and in the aftermath cannot sustain doling out to the insatiable pan-handling voters that made them win? Was it worth the victory?
It would have been different if Bebot Alvarez regained the Speakership which Sen. Koko Pimentel had wrongly predicted. Will Alvarez wing deliver? For now however, it’s all quiet in the northern front and all we hear are the wailing of huge mass of people who were hoodwinked into placing the money into large scale scam enterprises.
Which will lead us to indulge in speculation. I heard Alvarez saying a number of times that the May 13 elections will be his last. That can actually be interpreted as: he will call it quits and migrate to Siargao or run for governor. I doubt the staying power of Edwin Jubahib and Alan Dujali. A fluke, like lightning, does not strike twice. The one with the staying power is only Rey Uy, the vice governor. I heard he wanted to go back as Mayor of Tagum City. By then Allan Rellon will be out since he is on his last term. Rey “Chong” Uy will have a lot of thing to do which was left undone by Allan, and a lot to be undone.
The Uys yes. Like the Del Rosarios and Floirendos brothers Rey and Arthur Uy are synonymous to government service and have staying power. Among the few people that left an imprint to those who come and go in Tagum are the Uys. Their parents were immigrants from China. They were there in dusty Tagum and like the many pioneers from Visayas and Luzon that settled in the undivided Davao. They found their spot in the sun eking a decent livelihood using mostly brawn and inexhaustible energy and determination to succeed. Success was measured in terms of education and the Uys had that before anything else.
The story of the Uys in Davao del Norte is an inspiration in the same way as the pioneering saga of Floirendo and Alcantara. From a small town restaurant in dusty Tagum the Uys later would emerge in transport, oil industry and now in telecommunications. From being a Ford Motor distributor Floirendo who loved the smell of the earth ventured into corporate agriculture and later fathered the banana industry, Alcantara from timber to in processed marine products that are now exported worldwide.
Because politics is an indispensable reality that defines the destinies of men and enterprises through governance they who were part of the struggles of the past have the better vantage and ideas to design the future. It is not surprising therefore to see successful pioneers involved, directly or indirectly, in politics. Those who have not seen or ignored the past will suffer the ignominy of the future. And this is true to politicians and those they governed.
Just how swiftly Davao del Norte and shifted from fame of being a lead agricultural province in the country to being the epicenter of scams and shame demonstrate how or why political leadership matters. And this is just the beginning.