EDITORIAL – Less spending is cool

THREE of the four governors in the Davao region, also called Region 11, are unopposed in their bid to rule their respective jurisdictions for their third and last three-year term. They are Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario of Davao del Norte, Gov. Arthur T. Uy of Compostela Valley and Gov. Corazon N. Malanyaon of  Davao Oriental.
The only bone of contention is the governorship in Davao del Sur, where the fight is between incumbent Rep. Marc Cagas, son of Gov. Douglas Cagas, and former Rep. Claude Bautista. The electorate of Davao del Sur has become accustomed to the governorship’s being hotly contested because the intense rivalry between the Cagases and the Bautistas is a protracted one. Douglas, or “Dodo,” and Claude fought twice for the position, in 2007 and 2010. Douglas won over Claude each time, but now, he has bequeathed the fight against Bautista to son Marc who still has one term to serve as member of Congress before being barred by law to run for a fourth term. Perhaps for Claude Bautista, this third fight for the governorship is worth a try, claiming in an electoral protest that he was the real winner in his second tussle with Douglas in 2010.
The May 2013 election in Davao del Sur will be “bloody” in terms of spending for both the Cagases and the Bautistas. Two other Bautistas are running for reelection –brother Benjamin Jr. for mayor in Malita and Franklin for congressman of the second district. On the other hand, Douglas will run for Digos City mayor, while wife Mercedes, now a boardmember, will vie for the Congress seat to be vacated by son Marc. Money, hopefully not blood, will certainly flow here.
In the three other provinces, it will be less costly for governors del Rosario, Uy and Malanyaon, because their ally representatives are also unopposed.
Why are these governors unopposed? One educated guess is that they have performed well, or perceived to be so, in their first two terms. There are not too many hot issues that can be brought against them by their political rivals. Another reason is that no local political parties and individuals with money and charisma strong enough to oppose them in their traditional strongholds.
In a mid-term election, there are no presidential bets to extend financial support to local candidates. This is still another reason the local opposition is weak.
Yes, maybe, just maybe, a midterm election like the May 2013 exercise is cool because politicians won’t need to spend so much money they have to recover later on from only God knows where.