Most unopposed bets belong to LP

MANILA, Philippines - A majority of local candidates running unopposed in the May 13 polls belong to the administration-backed Liberal Party (LP), based on the list of candidates prepared by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Ramon Casiple, executive director of Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, said this should be expected since the country’s political system is based on “patronage system.”

“LP is now the ruling party so we can expect that the candidates, especially the incumbents seeking re-election, would want to align themselves with the President,” he told The STAR.

Casiple said it is no longer a party’s mission and vision that attract government leaders but its connection to whoever is in Malacañang.

“That’s why every election, candidates would think of moving to the party that is being supported by the administration. It has become a party of convenience, to align with the president,” he noted.

By being on the good side of the president, a local chief executive tends to benefit, primarily through the easy release of the internal revenue allotment (IRA), or the local government’s share of revenues from the national government.

“So during elections, it is better to be in the administration party. And for some people, it is better not to run anymore if they were not accommodated by the ruling party. They would rather not (antagonize) those in power,” he added.

Track records

Quezon Rep. Erin Tanada, an LP spokesman, said no one wanted to challenge the LP bets primarily because of their track records.

“I believe that the people in the different constituencies are happy with the performance of our local candidates. This is the reason why some are not challenging the LP candidates for election,” Tanada added.

The list showed that many of the unopposed candidates are in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Central Visayas and Davao.

Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle said many of the unopposed bets have just benefited from the disqualification of their rivals.

“Many of them were not unopposed originally. But what happened was that disqualification cases were filed against their rivals, not by them but by other people. So when the cases were granted, they just became unopposed,” he said.

Tagle cited the case of re-electionist Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, whose rival for the post was found by the Comelec to be a “nuisance candidate.”

Aside from being nuisance bets, the other reasons why some candidates were taken out of the race were their citizenship and their failure to meet residency requirements.

“But not because you are unopposed, you are automatically a winner. You still need one valid vote to be proclaimed. And even if we know that you already won, we still finish counting all the votes for you for record purposes,” Tagle added.

Based on the Comelec’s lists, among those who are unchallenged are re-electionist Albay Gov. Jose Salceda of LP, socialite Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas who is running for congresswoman of the 3rd District of Pangasinan, re-electionist Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas of the 1st District of Ilocos Norte, Leyte Rep. Imelda Marcos who is running for governor of Ilocos Norte and re-electionist Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao.

The list also includes Bernard Faustino Dy and Faustino Michael Carlos III Dy who are running for mayor of Cauayan and San Manuel, respectively, both in Isabela. They are nephews of Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy while Bernard is also the son of Cauayan Mayor Benjamin Dy.

Many of the unopposed candidates for mayor and vice-mayor in the same locality were observed to have similar surnames, indicating that they are relatives.