PUERTO PRINCESA CITY? It's hard to miss the imposing newly built private hangar right beside the main terminal building currently undergoing a major makeover into an international airport, its green oval-shaped logo bearing a now ubiquitous brand, in bold arial, JCA Foundation.

Since Jose ?Pepito? Chavez Alvarez barged into the local limelight in December with reports that he?s vying for the vacant gubernatorial seat of Palawan next year, he has single-handedly reengineered the province?s evolving political landscape, scrambling a partisan support group populated mainly by incumbent local officials and youth recruits.

While the erstwhile low-profile businessman himself declines to discuss his political plans, some of his key supporters can?t be more categorical.

His younger brother, 1st District Rep. Antonio Alvarez, took the occasion of his birthday last week to publicly appeal for support to his elder brother?s gubernatorial bid.

Leoncio Ola, a popular board member from northern Palawan, confirmed in an interview that he had already secured Alvarez?s commitment to be his running mate next year.

Alvarez is known to have supported the late Speaker Ramon Mitra throughout his political career that ended with Mitra?s failed presidential bid in 1992.

?He was and still is a kingmaker. And now he wants to become king,? local political observer Dante Dalabajan said.

In an earlier interview, Alvarez declined to confirm the reports about his gubernatorial plans.

?It?s an open-ended question but right now I?m not interested. This is just a feel good thing for me. I have just a few more years remaining in my life and I want to give back something to Palawan,? he said.

Following his public debut in December last year, Alvarez and newly organized JCA Foundation Inc. embarked on a town-hopping medical mission that has so far claimed to have treated at least 60,000 indigent patients.

The foundation said at the end of the program, it intends to reach at least 100,000 patients.

In the capital, Alvarez built a new hospital facility to accommodate more people seeking free medical help.

A group of topnotch surgeons, including some of his personal doctors based in the United States, spearheads the medical missions that boast of two state-of-the-art mobile operating theaters.

Last month, he donated a separate unit to the city government, costing at least P9 million.

Dr. Gerry Ortega, a close Alvarez associate, describes Alvarez as an ?enlightened? individual who had realized he wanted to leave a legacy.

?He?s 64 years old and realizes he?s not going to be around for too long. Born poor and now rich, he wants to leave a good legacy of having shared his blessings to the poor,? he said.