AT 76 YEARS OLD AND AFter nearly 33 years holding various elective positions in government, Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. is far from retiring.

In his third and last term, the governor is running for representative of the fourth congressional district of Iloilo.

Previously, he served six years as town mayor, six years as assemblyman, 12 years as congressman and is on his ninth year as governor.

As the patriarch of the leading political clan in the province, Tupas sees nothing wrong with members of his family continuously and simultaneously holding elective positions for decades.

?We were elected and it just showed that the people approved of what we had been doing,? said the governor in an earlier interview.

Tupas clan

Aside from the governor, five immediate family members of the Tupas clan are either running for reelection or for new positions in the 2010 elections.

His eldest son, Niel ?Jun-Jun? Tupas Jr., is running for reelection as representative of Iloilo?s fifth congressional district against his estranged cousin Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico.

Another son of the governor, Barotac Viejo Mayor Raul Tupas, is running to take over the governorship, while his brother, Niel Tupas III, seeks to replace him as mayor.

Nielex Tupas, the governor?s youngest child, is seeking a second term as Iloilo City councilor, while his elder brother, Nielo Tupas, is running for a seat in the provincial board.

The governor?s son-in-law, Parly Balleza, is a candidate for councilor of Banate town where the governor has constructed a house to meet the residency requirement of his candidacy.

Rival

The Garin clan, the main political rival of the Tupases, is not contesting head on the Tupas clan in the gubernatorial race. But it is fielding provincial board member Oscar ?Richard? Garin Jr. for vice governor.

This is seen as a stepping board for the Garins? second attempt to grab the top post in the province after their patriarch, former Iloilo Rep. Oscar Garin Sr., lost by a wide margin to Governor Tupas in 2004.

But the Garins have maintained their domination of politics in Iloilo?s first congressional district.

Oscar Sr. is currently the administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority, while his wife, former Iloilo Rep. Ninfa Garin, is seeking reelection as mayor of San Joaquin town.

Their daughter Christine is also running for a second term as mayor of their hometown in Guimbal, while Garin?s daughter-in-law, Iloilo Rep. Janette Loreto-Garin, is also seeking reelection. Christine and Janette are running unopposed.

Shift

The Tupas and Garin clans represent the political clans that have replaced the traditional landed families which have dominated politics in post-World War II Panay Island.

Tomasito Talledo, who teaches political science and sociology at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas in Miag-ao, Iloilo, said the decline of the sugar industry resulted in a shift of political influence and clout from the old landed families to those with businesses or former municipal or district officials who have expanded their resources and influence while in office.

Talledo said the current political clans have become resilient, especially after the Local Government Code was enacted, which gave greater resources to local executives through the Internal Revenue Allotment. It also gave them greater regulatory powers like licensing of businesses.

?The power to regulate and license businesses was used to prevent rivals from expanding economic wealth and, at the same time, promote those of their families and relatives,? Talledo said.

The local executives have also used government projects to build up their political stock, deepen the loyalty of constituents and get favors. This expanded influence, in turn, afforded the political support clans needed to grab higher posts.

Emergent

Talledo said that even as political clans have dominated politics in Panay for decades, other families are emerging and are also expanding and consolidating their hold on power like the Biron and Defensor families.

Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron is seeking reelection against Governor Tupas, while his father, Barotac Nuevo Mayor Hernan Biron Sr., is running for a second term. His brother, Dumangas Vice Mayor Hernan Biron Jr., is seeking a seat in the Iloilo provincial board representing the fourth district.

House Majority Floor Leader and Iloilo Rep. Arthur Defensor Sr. is seeking to reclaim his old post as Iloilo governor, while his son and namesake provincial board member Arthur Defensor Jr. is running for his post as congressman of the province?s third district.

Talledo said political clans have maintained their hold on power because of their elaborate political organization reaching up to the subvillage and household levels.

These organizations, also based along clan lines, have served as a social welfare support system where the political clan takes care of its supporters, even shouldering the education, employment and medical needs of dependents.

?The lack of government services and social welfare leads to dependence on political clans for their needs. This results to political indebtedness to their patrons cutting across generations,? Talledo said.

Broken alliance

But In Iloilo City, old alliances have broken up, especially that of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raul Gonzalez and Mayor Jerry Treñas which has dominated the city?s politics for more than a decade.

The breakup has reinvigorated the city?s political scene after years of token resistance from the opposition and have thrown open the political arena.

Treñas on his last term broke away and from Gonzalez?s camp last year and joined the Nacionalista Party to run against Gonzalez?s son and namesake Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr.

Tension has intensified among the former allies struggling over their once united machinery and network of supporters.