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BY HERBERT VEGO
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THREE lady politicians dominate the political landscape of Antique province – Sen. Loren Legarda, Gov. Rhodora “Dodod” Cadiao and Mayor Genevive Lim Reyes of the island municipality of Caluya.
There was a time when we thought Antique was too small to keep the triumvirate united. While Cadiao is eligible for re-election in 2019, Legarda and Reyes are not, hence might clash for the lone-district position of representative.
As a native Antiqueña and president of the League of Municipalities (Antique chapter), Reyes has a crucial advantage: loyalty of most of the 18 town mayors. Legarda, though a descendant of Antique-born grandparents, has never lived in the province and does not speak the native Kinaray-a dialect.
Should they both aim for the House in 2019, they would give undue advantage to another probable candidate for congressman, former governor Exequiel “Boy” Ex Javier whose son Paolo, the incumbent, is on his third and final term. Paolo could therefore be Governor Cadiao’s challenger n 2019.
In fairness to Senator Legarda, she has never publicly declared herself available for a lower position that could embroil her in a three-cornered fight with the older Javier and Reyes. Could it be because she expects an appointive post at the United Nations in New York City?
Rhodora Cadiao, a flight stewardess in her younger years, attributes her present position as provincial head to “destiny.” When she first ran for Provincial Board member and won in 2001, she had no intention of leaving her lucrative job at the Philippine Airlines (PAL). In fact, she had only filed a leave of absence without pay, hoping to return to that job at the end of her political term.
Outgoing Caluya mayor Genevive Lim Reyes – daughter the late Reynante Lim Sr. who was mayor from 2007 to 2010 – has likewise never intended to move to a higher political position. But her sterling performance as municipal head would no doubt serve as her most potent “passport” to the House of Representatives.
Caluya’s jump from 4th class to 1st class municipality in 2007 could be described as phenomenal. The majestic municipal hall, a stone’s throw away from the beach, mirrors progress. So, too, do the concrete buildings, the creeping road network, electricity and water system. Its seaport has been expanded to accommodate both cargo and passenger vessels.
Most of the eight islands comprising the isolated municipality off the northeastern Antique mainland have tourism potentials that would eventually turn it into another “paradise” where tourists could enjoy snorkeling, diving, boating or swimming alongside playful dolphins.
Mayor Reyes takes risks whenever they lead to betterment of her constituents. Remember when the Office of the Ombudsman suspended her for six months for “illegal cutting of coconut trees”?
She told the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Nestor Burgos, “I face this suspension with my head held high and my heart unburdened because I know that my people still believe that I did no wrong.”
Her lawyer, Voltaire Gumban, told this writer that she had moved for reconsideration because the administrative case filed against her prior to the 2016 election was “a figment of imagination” of complainant Juliet Ramos, who was supporting another candidate.
The lawyer stressed that the five-hectare property in Barangay Tinogboc – Cadastral Lot No. 912 under Tax Declaration No. 019-0048 – is not owned by Ramos. It is owned by the local government of Caluya, which had bought it from the heirs of spouses Antiquio and Liwayway Monson Janairo so that a housing project for the poor could be developed thereat.
On the brighter side, her suspension paved the way for a political ally, Vice Mayor Diosdado Egina, to prove himself capable of taking over. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
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