Cash-strapped Bohol farmer gives up senatorial dream but…

Santos Amaga Abella believes that his good looks and kind heart will give him an edge over the other candidates for provincial board member for Bohol’s second district. Photo by Leo Udtohan. INQUIRER VISAYAS

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol- A farmer has set aside his senatorial ambition for a seat in the Provincial Board because he didn’t have the enough money to go to Manila.

But Santos Amaga Abella vowed that he would still be as hardworking if elected into office.

Clad in a Barong Tagalog and black pants, Abella, 56, filed his certificate of candidacy on Tuesday afternoon at the Commission on Election provincial office in Tagbilaran.

He said he wanted to run for senator but he didn’t have enough financial resources to go to Manila and file his COC.

“I should run for senator but since I don’t have money to fly to Manila I ran for board member instead,” said Abella.

But he said his dream to be a senator could wait.

Abella said he ran for the same position in 2016 polls but received only 10,000 votes.

This time, he added, he planned to change his strategy that involved seeking the help of village chiefs.

If someone would help his candidacy, he loved to include Facebook in his campaign to increase his chance of winning.

But, he admitted, he had no social media account.

Asked what would be his edge over the other candidates, he replied: “Ang aking kabaitan at ganda kong lalaki (My being a good person and a good-looking man).”

He admitted he would not like to ride a habal-habal (motorcycle for rent) to campaign in the remote areas because he didn’t want the voters to look down at him.