5 days Ago By Dwight de Leon
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rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );Clemente Berberabe and his allies started the holiday on April 9 making the rounds at an impoverished neighborhood in Batangas City. In their house-to-house campaign, he shook every hand he could find, while telling residents an ambitious pitch — that it’s time for a change in the city government.
“Please give us a chance,” the mayoral aspirant would tell voters.It’s a big ask in a city that has constant physical reminders of one family’s decades-long rule. Named after the Dimacuhas are school buildings and a bridge, among other government infrastructures.
The capital of the province of the same name is a prime example of dynastic power thriving, mostly left unchallenged, in the aftermath of the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising. “It’s like they own the government,” said Carlito Bisa, a 57-year-old bank employee and union leader who is running for congressman in Batangas City for the third time.LONG SHOT.
Batangas 5th District congressional aspirant Carlito Bisa of Makabayan woos voters at an underprivileged neighborhood in Batangas City on April 9, 2025. Photo by Dwight de Leon/RapplerPower within the family The present Constitution, ratified in 1987, prohibits political dynasties, but the absence of an enabling law has made such a provision useless.In 1988, the first local election under the present Philippine republic, Batangas City elected Eduardo B.
Dimacuha for mayor. It was the start of the family’s rule stretching 37 years and counting. The patriarch, known to Batangueños for his initials EDB, ruled the city from 1988 to 1998, then again from 2001 to 2010, and finally for one more term from 2013 to 2016.
In years he became term-limited, he passed the baton to his son and wife. He died in 2021, but the dynasty he started lives on. Since 2016, his daughter Beverley Rose Dimacuha has led city hall.
DIMACUHA DYNASTY. Photos from Batangas City PIO; Graphics by Nico Villarete/Rapplerwindow.rapplerAds.
displayAd( "middle-2" );window.rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-2" );The younger Dimacuha is now term-limited, but is hoping to swap seats with her husband, Congressman Marvey Mariño.
The spouse represents the fifth district of Batangas, which consists only of Batangas City. It was created only in 2015 and has been solely ruled by Mariño since the first election for the seat was held in 2016.“Part of the Dimacuhas’ political image is that they are very people-oriented, starting of course with the patriarch Eduardo,” University of Batangas political science professor Abvic Ryan Maghirang told Rappler.
“They are very approachable, and perhaps that’s part of their charisma, that constituents could actually come to them.”“One thing they cannot avoid is patronage politics, especially since they attach their names on these buildings,” he added. “I could say that’s the negative aspect when it comes to the nature of politics in the Philippines.
”Industrial hubThe locality, under the Dimacuhas’ watch, has seen significant growth since the late 1980s to become a key industrial city in the Calabarzon region. In 2003, it registered the third highest net income in the country, according to the Commission on Audit.Today, Batangas City hosts major energy producers, as well as an international seaport that is among the country’s busiest, connecting Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao.
The local government has also cultivated a thriving business landscape. It has over 13,000 registered businesses, and business tax generated by the city surpassed P1 billion in 2023. The city, which in the early 80s was mostly agricultural, now has 3,000 hectares of land dedicated to industrial and commercial activities, accounting for one-tenth of its land use.
It is home to more than 370,000 people, making it the province’s second largest locality after Lipa.Formal allegations of corruption against the Dimacuhas have been rare. In 2012, a plunder complaint was filed with the Office of the Ombudsman against then-mayor Vilma Dimacuha over the allegedly irregular reduction of real property taxes on a power plant, but the complaint was later dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
A 2015 Inquirer report also said that slain journalist Mei Magsino, prior to her assassination, spoke of a threat to her life in 2013, claiming that the Dimacuha patriarch “had put out a P200,000 bounty on her head.” Eduardo denied the allegation.Health carewindow.
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displayAd( "mobile-middle-3" );Berberabe formed Team Bagong Batangas City (Team BBC) for the midterms to challenge the reigning family. Clemente isn’t necessarily a complete outsider, as he’s the second cousin of Jun Berberabe, former vice mayor and incumbent board member who once made a failed bid to unseat the Dimacuha patriarch, but later became the family’s ally.Clemente said his slate is composed of “new faces in public service,” most of whom have no strong background in politics.
It’s a fact that also underscores the uphill battle they face just to get elected.The full slate of the incumbent city administration, called Team EBD, also has the backing of showbiz royalty and former governor Vilma Santos, the favorite to win the 2025 Batangas gubernatorial election.If anything, Berberabe comes from the party of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP). He is its provincial president in Batangas, and has full backing from the national party president, South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr.That is why it’s not surprising that at the center of Berberabe’s Team BBC campaign message is the promise to construct a new hospital in the provincial capital, one which would supposedly provide free hospitalization.
It’s a commitment that PFP candidates in other provinces have made, such as Laguna Vice Governor and gubernatorial aspirant Karen Agapay. Must Read Which candidate has best cure for Laguna’s perennial health care woes? “This project I saw in South Cotabato is what I would push for. This will be a program-based campaign,” Berberabe told Rappler.
Batangas City already hosts a tertiary public hospital, but it caters not only to people of the provincial capital, but also to people from all other places, including Laguna, which does not have its own Level 3 facility.A report from the Batangas City government said the Batangas Medical Center served 145,933 outpatients, and admitted 26,227 inpatients. At one time in August 2024, the facility announced it had exceeded maximum capacity for admissions.
“If we have our own public hospital, at least we can decongest the regional hospital. Then we can strengthen our own public hospital, increase its bed capacity, and serve our fellow citizens who are truly struggling,” Berberade added.The local government provides an EBD health card though, which card holders can use for medical services in some private hospitals in the city.
“That card has a limit. it’s not really enough to meet the needs of someone who is seriously ill,” said Bisa, an ally of Berberabe and a Makabayan candidate.“When the card’s limit runs out, then what? Our people will have to borrow money again.
So it’s really just being used as bait for votes. It’s not a genuine service,” he added.Rappler has reached out to Team EBD, including Mayor Beverley, Congressman Marvey, and Vice Mayor Alyssa Cruz, for this story, requesting an interview and asking them about their platforms, but our Facebook messages have remain unanswered.
In an interview with local news outlet Frontpage in March, Congressman Mariño cast doubts on Berberabe’s promise.“It will never be sustainable for everything to be free. There should be some who pay a little, and only those who truly can’t afford it should get services for free,” Mariño said.
BATANGAS MAYORAL RACE. Congressman Marvey Mariño faces businessman Clemente Berberabe. Photos from House of Representatives, Berberabe’s FacebookPromiseDuring that house-to-house campaign, residents accepted Team BBC’s offer of a handshake, and were courteous enough to listen to the team’s elevator pitch.
But old habits die hard. When Rappler asked residents after the candidates had already passed them whom they would vote for, they said they would stick with the Dimacuhas. “Maybe I’d still vote for [Beverley Dimacuha’s husband] Mariño, because the patriarch [Eduardo Dimacuha] was kind to me.
It’s debt of gratitude. He treated me like family when my husband died. The Dimacuhas are kind,” a 74-year-old Julie said.
Professor Maghirang told Rappler that while Team BBC’s campaign message on improving health care is a promising start, the local opposition needs to offer more innovation.“The Batangueños are happy with the status quo. As long as they can see that the administration is performing, that what they need is actually being given — even if it’s just meeting the minimum — I think the Batangueños are good with that,” he added, citing the Dimacuha family’s achievements in improving access to basic services and increasing the student population through the local college.
But as Maghirang pointed out, as much as a nearly four-decade rule over city hall raises issues of delicadeza, it also ensures the continuity of programs.Bisa, however, said, “It’s as if politics has become their family business. New ideas, fresh blood — they’re losing the chance to come in.
” “The people are the ones who suffer.” – Rappler.com.
