23 hours Ago By Pachico A. Seares
[] "Cebu's concern is over its own unity," says reelectionist governor, apparently not wishing to be labeled as BBM or DDS supporter or ally at this time.[] And no one among them, including Vice President Sara Duterte, is seeking public office that "Cebuanos can vote for."FINALLY, since the Dutertes' political and personal quarrel with the Marcoses exploded on the public stage with the arrest and transfer of former President Rodrigo R.
Duterte last March 11, 2025 on alleged crime against humanity, Cebu's leader spoke out what she thinks on the issue that has been dividing the country.BBM or DU30? She hasn't shown one political stripe that excludes the other.And she chose not to take side on the subject the Marcoses and Dutertes lately tangle on: whether FPRRD should be tried by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands or sent back home instead.
By not talking publicly about the issue of jurisdiction and due process regarding his arrest and coming trial, the governor has so far shown she prefers not to join the rumble and "cause disunity" among the Cebuanos.Here are takeaways from Gwen's March 29, 2025 campaign speech in Sibonga, Cebu, later chopped into chewable portions for social media users:[1] "GUBOT, SAMOK" THERE; 'UNITY' HERE. Turmoil in the National Government while in Cebu, "there's unity," she said, "nagkahiusa ang Sugbo, lig-on.
" "Cebu is No. 1 because we're united."She assumes: (a) There are no political squabbles in Cebu, when in fact the goal for "a One Cebu" has long eluded peace-seekers, although that might come after the elections if dissenting forces are totally subdued, and (b) Polarization of BBM and DU30 camps won't spread to local governments outside Davao and other Duterte strongholds, although some national issues can strike at local communities pretty hard.
How much are communities outside Duterte country affected by the Duterte arrest issue? How wide and vigorous are the protests, a credible picture of which has yet to be presented by national media?We shouldn't join in the fray, the governor in effect said. "Panalipdan ta kining atong ka-iusahan," Gwen said in her Sibonga campaign pitch.[2] CAN CEBU INSULATE ITSELF FROM HIGH EMOTIONS over the Rodrigo Duterte prosecution? How much would current bashing of BBM and outpouring of sympathy for Duterte over the ICC issue influence voters? Would it persuade Cebu voters to support candidates who rally to Duterte's cause? Or would they vote for those who back BBM in turning over the former president to the ICC for prosecution?Two Cebu City legislators told me the pro-Duterte surge would slow down by election day in May.
That may happen or not: a new "imponderable" in the election, an uncertainty over whether fire keeps burning in public consciousness until the time to fill the ballot next month.A "given" consequence though: It may affect the voting, particularly in a close fight. [3] NO WORRY ABOUT THE COMPETITION? Governor Gwen may have little or nothing to worry about the challenge to her seat.
Many people see a tremendously lopsided race in the match between the incumbent Gwen Garcia and challenger Pamela Baricuatro. In 2022, Joseph Felix Mari H. Durano obtained only 341,455 votes or 18.
66 percent against Gwen Garcia's 1.478 million votes or 80.81 percent.
Would Pam Baricuatro -- who doesn't have a a bailiwick ("bulwarte") like the Duranos and rates much less in name recall -- fare better than Ace Durano in the balloting?The BBM-Duterte factor may not cause a dent on Gwen's formidable advantage over her rival.Baricuatro has been giving Garcia a tit-for-tat exercise in social media duel but her campaign force is no match to the political behemoth that's the Gwen machinery and interlocking network throughout the province.I suspect Pam knows her slim chance and is just having some exploratory plunge into politics or doing a kind of joyride.
[4] WHY GWEN THINKS MARCOS-DUTERTE FACTOR ISN'T RELEVANT in this election and Cebuanos don't have to choose yet one leader over the other.They're not running, that's why, the governor said in her speech. This is a local election, a midterm fight.
We won't choose a president but a governor and city and town mayors, vice mayors and councilors in the country's local governments, along with 12 senators. "Wa man modagan silang duha (Marcos and Duterte), sila diay? Dili. Kita man.
" Digong Duterte is running for city mayor in Davao. "Cebuanos cannot vote for them," Gwen said.The trouble with us, Guv Gwen said, is that for this election we already think and prepare for the next election.
While we're still to vote this May for mostly local officials, we're also planning and deciding for the presidential elections in 2028.[5] LOYALTY IS NEEDED EVEN BEFORE 2028 ELECTIONS, from political leaders to voters, by BBM and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, on one side, and Vice President Sara Duterte, her dad the former president, and her politician-brothers, on the other.Moves and counter-moves in the national scene inevitably set off movements and alignments in local politics.
The breakup of Team Unity --the BBM-Sara alliance in 2022 -- led to the Vice President's impeachment and the ex-president's arrest and trial before the ICC. All that required operations, big and small, in the local and national levels.There are preparations all right and they're needed on the road to 2028.
The Dutertes, for example, would wish to have their handpicked senators-to-be win in May to help Sara survive impeachment trial in the Senate. The Dutertes thus solicit LGU leaders' support so that the Senate will be packed with as many friendly senator-judges as they can.That may be thrown against Gwen's argument that there's no need for choosing now between the two feuding political camps and families.
Local leaders may not see the need but national leaders do. Both the Dutertes and BBM most likely will press the governor to include all their respective senator-wannabes in the One Cebu sample ballots. Would Guv Gwen continue to keep her neutrality even then?Both the Marcoses and the Dutertes must also want local leaders to tap constituents in their respective bailiwicks: for warm bodies in protests/counter-protests for their respective causes.
And of course, the administration will seek active support by its local governments. Eventually, an LGU must choose which political side to take. Yet he governor believes, "Not until the next election.
"[6] GRATEFUL TO DIGONG, DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING HURTFUL TO DUTERTES. The governor said she has not said anything that hurts either FPRRD or the Vice President. None "ug dili ko makaako," Gwen said.
Father and daughter, Gwen said, endorsed her in the 2019 election for the first term in her comeback to Capitol as governor. As in the ex-president's case, Cebuanos cannot vote for Sara this May as she's not running for any public office; she's still serving her VP term.[7] RESPECT FOR THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE.
On January 30, 2025, Visayan governors reaffirmed their support to President Marcos Jr. and "his vision for national progress" at a unity lunch of the "Visayan Bloc" led by the Cebu governor. Earlier, on June 28, 2024, Guv Gwen said in a speech delivered in BBM's presence, "As we did in 2022, Mr.
President, we stand firmly behind you in full support for the man who called for unity."In much more recent pronouncements, particularly on the campaign trail, Gwen hasn't been as expressive of full support for the president as before the Marcos-Duterte rift widened. But then she has also been quiet about her political relationship with the Dutertes.
And in the debate on prosecuting the ex-president, she has not been reported to have sided with one camp or the other. Check out the news archives.The Capitol may be likened to a Switzerland in a raging war far outside its borders.
That might turn out to be good for the leaders and their people. There are voices though, sober and concerned, that say the issue is as compellingly important to the rest of the nation as it has been to the protagonists and their communities..
