HIS sister is the governor of the province in her 3rd and last term. His father is a former governor and now congressman in Cebu’s 2nd district. He has two brothers who are town mayors and an in-law who is a mayor.
But for 3rd district Rep. Pablo John “PJ” Garcia, who has filed his candidacy for governor as her sister runs for his present post, political dynasties do not exist in the country.
Pablo John said political dynasty happens “when power is handed down from one family member to the other.”
This, he said, is not the case in the Philippines. “The people have to vote,” Garcia said.
He admitted thought that there are families who have been in public service for awhile and the people have seen how they work.
Performance of these public officials coming from the same family he added is what convinces the people to vote for them.
“We are not forcing ourselves on the people. We have an electoral process, we have a democratic process,” he said.
From congressman to governor to mayor, the Garcia clan has practically covered all bases as far as local elective posts go in Cebu.
Six members of their family are running for different positions in 2013, including Liloan town Mayor Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco who is married to Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s daughter Christine.
The Garcias started their reign in Cebu when the family’s patriarch, the incumbent 2nd district Rep. Pablo Garcia became governor in 1995. /Carmel Loise Matus, Correspondent