Former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. AFP FILE PHOTO
DAVAO CITY—Former House Speaker and Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez and his top ally, Davao del Norte Gov. Edwin Jubahib, survived a sweep of the rival Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HnP) last May, 9 in a seeming reversal of their 2019 political fortune.
Alvarez won a third term while Jubahib, who used to be his personal assistant, won a second term.
Alvarez and Jubahib battled with the HnP in 2019 as members of the PDP-Laban. But on May 9, they are members of the Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma (Reporma) which first supported the presidential candidacy of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and later shifted to endorsing Vice President Leni Robredo.
In this year’s election, their former PDP-Laban colleagues joined the HnP, weakening the vote-generation potential of Reporma in the province.
Among them was 2nd District Rep. Alan Dujali who trounced then reelectionist Rep. Antonio Floirendo in 2019. Dujali was reelected on May 9, defeating Reporma’s candidate, board member Janris Jay Relampagos.
In the presidential race, HnP allies delivered 470,567 votes for former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. while Robredo got only 39,373. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte had 500,116 votes for vice president while her closest rival for support in the province, Senate President Vicente Sotto, got only 33,598.
In the first district, Reporma only managed to win three seats in the provincial legislature—-Nicandro Suaybaguio Jr., Prospero Estabillo Jr. and Francisco Remitar——while its candidates were routed in the second district. Vice Gov. Rey Uy also edged Reporma’s challenger, board member Franklin Gentiles, by over 84,000 votes.
Of the province’s 11 localities, Reporma bets won four mayoral seats. These are Jose Relampagos of Panabo City, Maria Theresa Timbol of Kapalong who ran unopposed, Jorjan Federiso of New Corella, and Jonnie Libayao of Talaingod. The vice mayors in six of nine towns also belong to Reporma.
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