ORMOC CITY, Philippines — As the 2013 elections draw near with the campaign period due to start this October, politicians in the city have begun positioning themselves, mobilizing forces and setting up strategies.
Reports have it that the mayoralty race would possibly be between businessman Edward “Ondo” Codilla and showbiz personality Richard Gomez.
Ondo is the brother of incumbent Mayor Eric “Beboy” Codilla of the Lakas party, while Richard is the husband and congressional chief of staff of incumbent Rep. Lucy Torres Gomez (4th district, Leyte) of the Liberal Party.
There were earlier reports that Ondo’s father, former mayor and congressman Eufrocino “Dodong” Codilla Sr. would be the mayoralty bet for Lakas, but Beboy said their father decided to enjoy his retirement years and would rather give the political fight to his sons.
Political observers here said that Ondo, despite his political inexperience, may have the edge considering his being a native Ormocanon and his long years in the business sector as a contractor.
The Gomez camp, however, said Richard has a built-in drawing power because of his young age and popularity as a movie actor and TV host. “Richard would have the young voters in addition to the women votes,” said Lito Cotiangco, a politician himself who heads the Gomez office in the city.
A Codilla supporter countered that the Ormocanons are intelligent voters and the Ondo-Richard fight would step on the weighing scale of integrity and character, based on who between the two has the heart for the city and its residents.
While Richard’s camp said this is the time for change in the political facade of Ormoc for the betterment of the city, the Codillas said the people should not gamble on the perceived change because the present structure is strong and there is nothing to change after all. “Change of leadership would only bring the people back to the old ways of the elitists or oligarchs,” Beboy said.
Cotiangco said that Richard and Lucy, since the start of the congressional term, have been regularly meeting with the poor in the barangays, turning their city office into a service center that “addresses all requests for help imaginable—money, hospital bills, barangay projects, personal fights and even marital problems between husbands and wives, to name a few.”
Beboy countered: “The Codillas, being raised in a poor family, represent the masses or the commoner. Richard is representing the elitists who once ruled the city and the district, under the gaping gap between the rich and the poor. Since we took over, social services and businesses in the city improved, elections have been peaceful and the poor people can now approach City Hall for help at any time.”
Beboy, who is now on his last term in office, might challenge Lucy for the congressional seat and many political pundits have conjectured that this would be a close fight, with both sides able to get their respective shares of support from all sectors.
Leyte’s 4th district consists of Ormoc City (110 barangays) and the towns of Albuera (16 brgys), Isabel (24), Kananga (23), Matag-ob (21), Merida (22) and Palompon, the biggest town with 50 barangays. The mayor of Kananga is Beboy’s brother Elmer Codilla.
The Gomez staff said Richard’s vice mayoralty bet might be businessman Vince Rama, but there are two others in the shortlist and the final choice would depend on the results of a series of three surveys to generate the common opinion of the party’s leaders in the city.
On the part of the Codillas, Beboy, who is the district head of Lakas, said the party might be endorsing last-termer Councilor Ruben “Bingo” Capahi as Ondo’s runningmate, but then it would still be party that would have the official say on the matter.
Beboy said he still has to meet Senator Bong Revilla, Lakas national president, to discuss local political matters and that an oath-taking of new party members and leaders in the district has been tentatively set either on June and July.
Some sources said that a third force, headed perhaps by Marcos “Macoy” Larrazabal, a losing mayoralty bet for the LP in the 2010 polls, might enter the fray but this has been no confirmation from Macoy himself on this matter. —-CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE