Garcia political clan suffers biggest defeat in Cebu

CEBU CITY—Only two of five members of the influential Garcia political clan made it in the 2013 elections.

Suspended Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and brother, Nelson, won the third district congressional race and the mayoral contest in Dumanjug town, Cebu.

But her father, Rep. Pablo Garcia, of Cebu’s second district, and two brothers—Rep. Pablo John Garcia and Vice Mayor Marlon Garcia of Barili town—were not as lucky, losing in their respective bids.

Gwendolyn, of One Cebu-United Nationalist Alliance, was proclaimed congresswoman-elect of the third district, the family bailiwick, on Thursday with a slim margin of 1,984 votes.

She received 105,424 votes while her opponent, Pinamungahan Mayor Geraldine Yapha of the Liberal Party (LP), got 103,440 votes.

“This has been the most difficult political battle that I have to face. You know what I was up against,” she said after her proclamation.

Garcia is serving a six-month suspension starting Dec. 19, 2012, when the Office of the President found her guilty of grave abuse of authority for usurping the powers of the vice governor.

Nelson Garcia won the mayoral seat in Dumanjud town with 14,016 votes against Cesar Baricuatro who received 10,080 votes.

But three Garcia family members didn’t make it.

The family patriarch, Pablo, deputy speaker, won’t return to his seat in the House after he was defeated by a former ally, Wilfredo Caminero of LP, by a margin of 6,961 votes.

Another brother, Pablo John, lost the gubernatorial race to lawyer Hilario Davide III, son of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

It was Davide’s second bid in the gubernatorial race. When Davide ran for Cebu governor in 2010, he lost by 90,000 votes to Gwendolyn.

This time, Davide won by at least 160,000 votes against Pablo John.

Davide said he was thankful that all the people wanted change in the province.

He called on all newly elected officers to unite for “genuine public service.”

“The election has ended and it’s time to move on and continue for the good of Cebu and Cebuanos,” he said.

His running mate, acting Gov. Agnes Magpale of LP, also clinched the vice gubernatorial race.

“I will act as vice governor on July 1. I’ll be reaching out to them. This political exercise is one of the most bitter and it takes a lot of healing and reaching out to them,” she said.

Another brother of Gwendolyn, Vice Mayor Marlon Garcia of Barili, lost in the municipality’s mayoral race to reelectionist Teresito Marinas.