(First of two parts)
MALOLOS CITY—No one wants to budge in. “Walang kumukurap [Nobody’s blinking].” Everyone is holding their ground firm.
Three months before the filing of candidacies for the May 13, 2019 elections, four aspirants are now busy consolidating their grassroot followers to their pursue dreams of becoming the next mayor of this historic capital of Bulacan.
The four—known by their nicknames Ayee, Bebong, Didis and Len—are the hottest item in barber shops, tricycle lines, and on social media, which have been abuzz with all sorts of political speculations and re-alignments as the October deadline nears.
On the list is incumbent Vice Mayor Gilbert “Bebong” Gatchalian. He is a natural shoo-in candidate owing to his three terms as partner of City Mayor Christian D. Natividad, dubbed the “Agila ng Bulacan” (Eagle of Bulacan) who is eyeing the governor’s seat next year.
However, Gatchalian’s public image, minus the phenomenal popularity of Natividad, has not been very convincing, even to his close associates at city hall, Manila Standard learned.
Whether he can survive the grueling battle of wits, propaganda, and, logistics—his credentials lack this—is anybody’s guess. It will be up to the survey results, some two or three months before the 2019 elections, if Natividad’s magical charisma on Malolenyos can stick with Bebong come election day.
Gatchalian’s face is rarely seen on street banners, but a Standard source claims he has cornered juicy tarpaulin-banner contracts of the city government since 2010.
Another candidate is opposition stalwart Laurens Jan “Didis” Domingo, a former city councilor and nephew of six-term former mayor Danny Domingo. Just a year after his loss to Natividad in 2016, his tarpaulins had become a semi-permanent fixture on almost all electric posts in the city’s suburbs.
Didis’ face is seen on almost anything and any occasion there is to greet the public. Worth noting is that this cycle of year-round routine greetings somewhat follows the tarp cycle of Bulacan’s top provincial officials led by OIC-Governor Daniel Fernando.
This time, Didis’ father and construction-contractor Ambet vows, they will bet all in and win at all costs. Like the notion shared by all their loyal supporters, the elder Domingo believes that without the soaring ‘Agila’—the archnemesis of their family’s quest to reclaim city hall—there is no stopping Didis in 2019.
This, they say, is a visa that will entitle Didis not only the seat last occupied by his uncle Danny but also the fame and glory of being the first (full-time) occupant of the new five-storey Malolos City Hall being built at the sprawling government center along McArthur Highway in Barangay Bulihan.
Ironically, the P350-million structure is a flagship project of Natividad. Whether it will be completed before the year ends is a big question.
For the Domingos, the scent of Didis’ victory is the sweetest revenge for the election setbacks of their staunch ally, philanthropist-businessman Al Tengco and running mate Dennis Domingo San Diego in the 2010 elections, Danny’s stunning loss in a rematch with Natividad in 2013, and Didis’ crushing defeat in 2016.
Their successive losses have also deprived them of using the newly constructed P150-million Malolos Sports and Convention Center—a project of former-mayor Danny during his last term—that is considered the biggest public structure in Bulacan. Its doors opened barely weeks before the May 10, 2010 elections.
MSCC’s massive indoor capacity was put to maximum use during the game-changing miting-de-avance of eventual President Rodrigo Duterte, and became a strategic vantage point for Natividad in launching a systematic people-oriented and cutting-edge sports activities for his next political target: the Provincial Capitol.
It’s a priceless multi-purpose center given on a silver platter for the exclusive political propaganda of Natividad for nine long years, becoming his launching pad to conquer the Capitol.
(To be continued)