Bitter Iloilo poll race coming to an end

LIBERAL Party leaders and supporters gather in Pavia, Iloilo, for the proclamation of senatorial and local candidates last February. LYN RILLON

ILOILO CITY—The fiercely fought mayoralty race of Iloilo City comes to a close on Monday after months of often acrimonious campaigning rarely seen in the city’s recent electoral history.

Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog  of the ruling Liberal Party  is seeking a second term against businessman and political neophyte Rommel Ynion  of the United Nationalist Alliance.

The battle to win votes and earn the support of Ilonggos in the past months has been marked by doles, online propaganda and counterpropaganda by supporters,  below-the-belt accusations and name-calling.

During the precampaign period, both sides had been accused of riding on the shortage of water in some areas of the city for political points.

Both Ynion and Mabilog distributed water in villages using trucks that bore their faces and names.

Ynion publicly questioned Mabilog’s sexual orientation. The mayor has refused to face Ynion in public debates, calling the businessman “insane.”

Ynion said he had distributed at least 2,000 toilet bowls and bread. He has offered free jeepney rides and launched medical missions.

“I believe in initial doles for indigents. Many people are down and almost out, and we should have a more caring government,” he said.

He supports hospital subsidy for the poor, saying programs and projects of the city benefited only politicians and businessmen close to officials.

Asked how he could recoup his campaign expenses, Ynion said he did not expect to do so. Ynion was arrested and posted bail last week for a P46.5-million tax evasion case filed by the Department of Justice.

Mabilog said basic services should be accessible and affordable to the poor.

He said programs and projects under him propelled the city nearer to its goal of becoming a “premier city” by 2015. A 3,700-seat convention center in  Iloilo Business Park will help achieve that target, he said.

The mayor said he would continue offering free education to as many poor students as possible. His administration promised to build 10,000 houses for the poor starting this year.