Rep. Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo on Thursday filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) in his reelection bid for Davao del Norte’s Second District.
Running under the banner of the Hugpong Ng Pagbabago (HNP), Floirendo will be up against a token rival in Vice Governor Alan Dujali.
Dujali, a former political ally of Floirendo, has pitched camp with the Alvarez Wing that was organized by First District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez as a local political bloc under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino/Lakas ng Bayan (PDP/Laban).
Floirendo’s filing of his reelection bid on October 11, the start of filing of COCs mandated by the Commission on Election (Comelec), comes as the first shot fired by the HNP, a regional party formed by presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara “Inday” Duterte-Carpio, in its coming battle against the Alvarez Wing in the 2019 mid-term election.
The reelectionist Alvarez, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives and secretary general of the PDP/Laban, is a former political ally who has broken ties with Floirendo.
The Alvarez Wing will be fielding a full slate against Mayor Duterte-Carpio’s HNP in the coming Davao del Norte contest.
“MEDUSA CAMPAIGN”
The camp of Floirendo, reports said, has also launched “Medusa Campaign, ” a special operations project to thwart the reelection bid of Alvarez.
The campaign is named after the cruel goddess Medusa who had snakes as her hair who was killed by Perseus in Greek mythology.
Accordingly, Medusa Campaign will have Floirendo and his political machinery expanding outside of Floirendo’s Second District to Alvarez’s First District to frustrate the return to Congress of the former Speaker who was ousted in a coup in July and replaced by former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Alvarez has a ton of blood debts to Floirendo.
As the sitting Speaker, Alvarez hounded Floirendo with a graft case in the Ombudsman; initiated a House inquiry into the Floirendo-owned Tagum Agricultural Development Company (Tadeco); removed Floirendo from membership in House committees; and reportedly deleted congressional budget for Floirendo’s district.
The soured relationship between Floirendo and Alvarez reportedly was sparked by a public quarrel between their respective girlfriends.
The return to civilian life of Alvarez after the 2019 May contest is already written in the wall.
The ragtag team of the Alvarez Wing is up against the formidable machineries of the HNP, Floirendo and his cousin Governor Anthony del Rosario.
Mayor Duterte-Carpio, HNP chairman, has also vowed to campaign against the former Speaker.
HNP has yet to bare its slate, but reports say that it will field either Gov. del Rosario or his father former governor Rodolfo “Dolfo” del Rosario against Alvarez.
The Alvarez Wing is fielding a virtual unknown, contractor Edwin Jubahib, Alvarez’s special assistant, in the race for Governor against HNP’s Gov. del Rosario or the elder del Rosario.
In the race for vice governor, Alvarez Wing has former Tagum City mayor Rey Chong Uy, who has shied away from contesting the reelection of Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon, who defeated Uy in 2016. HNP reportedly is positioning Board Member Roy Catalan against Uy.
THE DURIAN POST 