MANILA, Philippines – In Camarines Sur, not one Liberal Party (LP) candidate won in the 2010 elections for the position of congressman, vice-governor or governor.

But the province did throw its support behind the candidate that mattered — President Benigno Aquino III.

Aquino won in Camarines Sur, garnering 315,681 votes out of the 718,028 who actually voted. His vice-presidential bet and now Interior Secretary Mar Roxas also won in the province by a slim margin over now Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Team PNoy, the coalition of Aquino, is banking on his popularity in the province to lift the slate when bets visit on Thursday, March 20.

Since 2010, Camarines Sur, the largest of the six provinces of Bicol, has seen a 6.2% increase in registered voters — from 922,043 to 979,387. Camarines Sur has 5 congressional districts, one independent chartered city, one component city, and 35 municipalities.

According to the National Statistical Coordination Board, the province lags behind efforts to improve access to public health and education, especially because Camarines Sur is one of the poorest provinces in the country. In 2009, its poverty incidence was 38.7%, a mere 0.4% improvement from 6 years prior, when it was 38.3% in 2003.

It is also the third province in the country with the highest number of poor families — a constant trend since 2003. The province is also low on the good governance index, and has suffered from a constant electric power problem. 

While Naga City — the independent city of the province — ranks high in all these indices, voters of Camarines Sur will be looking to hear about poverty alleviation programs of Team PNoy’s senatorial bets, and their plans to improve health, education and electricity in a province that has seen little progress in recent decades.

The illegal numbers game jueteng, which is rampant in the province, is a recurring problem.

While Aquino is popular in Camarines Sur, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) is the dominant party in the province.

NPC is allied with the administration on the national level, but it is locked in a fierce local rivalry with another party in the President’s coalition locally, the Nacionalista Party (NP). The LP in the province is far behind the two in terms of number of candidates running, but it too aims to play a factor in local politics, having fielded candidates to contest positions against bets of NPC and NP.

Enduring dynasties

For the positions in the provincial and district levels, NPC has 14 candidates running for 17 positions. NP is fielding 11 bets, while LP has 7.

The most heated race will be for the gubernatorial position, which has been controlled by the Villafuerte clan since 1978. This time around, the gubernatorial race pits the Villafuertes against each other.

Incumbent third district Rep Luis Villafuerte of NPC will challenge his 24-year-old grandson, NP’s Miguel Villafuerte. Miguel or Migz is hoping to replace his father, incumbent Gov LRay Villafuerte, who is gunning for the second district congressional seat. The elder Villafuerte already held the position of governor in the past, for 18 years.

The LP is also fielding its own candidate for governor: former Solicitor General Jose Cadiz.

The ruling party is fielding candidates in 4 of 5 of the province’s districts, including Atty Leni Robredo, the wife of the late Interior Secretary and former Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo. Leni is running for congress in the province’s third district against yet another Villafuerte, Nelly, the wife of the oldest Villafuerte.

Aside from Robredo, the rest of the candidates of LP will be running against other political dynasties in the province, specifically the Alfelors and the Fuentabellas.

Camarines Sur is home to some of the longest-serving political dynasties in the country. Members of the Fuentebella family have enjoyed power for 105 years. Others such as the Andayas and the Alfelors have also occupied positions for at least 3 decades.

Of LP’s candidates, Robredo has the biggest chance to win, largely because of the legacy of her well-loved ex-husband.

Clamor for change

Team PNoy campaign manager Franklin Drilon has repeatedly said they expect local NPC bets to support the coalition of the President, as promised by the party’s leadership. The same expectation goes for NP. If fulfilled, the messy local race will have little effect on the success of Team PNoy candidates in the province.

Add that to the support Aquino received from the province in 2010, then the slate may have little to worry about in Camarines Sur. Former president Joseph Estrada only mustered 122,885 votes here in 2010, or 192,796 behind Aquino, while Binay also lost to Roxas. Both Estrada and Binay head the opposition, United Nationalist Alliance.

Another factor that can help the slate? The death of LP’s stalwart Jesse Robredo who was well-loved in the province.

Voters in Camarines Sur are accustomed to patronage politics, where names of politicians are painted on school buildings and residents expect gifts when visited by candidates.

But since Robredo’s death, and since his good work in the province has been exposed and extensively praised, there has been a palpable clamor for change that has resulted in the candidacy of his wife. – Rappler.com