The next governor of Cebu is...oops, not yet!

Due to the continued delays in the counting, I regret to inform you that as of press time, there is still no clear winner in the gubernatorial race of Cebu. Last week, the count showed Gwen Garcia leading the race, then last Monday we reported that Agriculture Undersecretary Celestino Martinez Jr. was in the lead. Today, no one is sure. Apparently, the respective camps want to prevent the ballots from various polling places from being counted so that no one can emerge a clear winner.

In anticipation of a prolonged electoral protest from both political camps, it was suggested that since the race for vice governor produced a clear winner in the person of Engr. Greg Sanchez, he should be proclaimed and given the status as OIC of the Cebu provincial capitol. Frankly speaking, we don’t know what the legalities are in this particular case, but all the Cebuano voters want to do is have the Comelec or C-Cimpel continue counting the votes, and only then should the protest be allowed to take its due course. Hopefully, all this will be resolved this week so we can report to you who the next governor of Cebu is.

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Meanwhile, in Cebu’s congressional race, almost all incumbent representatives got re-elected into office. I say almost because in the first district of Cebu, incumbent Rep. Jose R. Gullas did not run and gave way to his elder brother, former congressman and incumbent Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas. Yes, Eddiegul handily won back his congressional seat, which he gave up to his brother Dodong in the 2001 elections. Meanwhile, a good friend of ours, a member of the Catholic Faith Defenders and Mary’s Catholic Apologist, Bro. Soc Fernandez, has been proclaimed the new mayor of Talisay City.

For the rest of the congressional races, we saw Rep. Simeon Kintanar of the second district reclaim his seat, so too with third district Rep. Antonio Yapha, fourth district Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez, fifth district Rep. Joseph "Ace" Durano and sixth district Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz. Cebu City’s North District Rep. Raul del Mar had a convincing win over his opponent, councilor Danilo Fernan (a nephew of the late former Senate President Marcelo "Celing" Fernan), while South District Rep. Tony Cuenco finally had a big lead over his political rival, Aristotle Batuhan. In the previous elections, their votes were so close, it resulted in a protest action by Batuhan… but in this race, Cuenco has a big margin.

Once again I’d like to say that I’m proud of the political maturity that the Cebuano electorate has shown in the recent polls. But there are points we’d like to elucidate. For instance, in the final week of the election campaign, Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez came up with that revealing presscon that she made certain shortcuts which ended with some P11.6 million in her personal bank account. We thought that the electorate in the fourth district would have been fuming mad at this revelation, but in the end, she was still voted overwhelmingly by her constituents, which only tells you that either the voters didn’t care about Clavel’s mea culpa or they appreciated her frankness in admitting this faux pas.

One of the biggest issues that struck the entire nation was Davide’s impeachment, which happened in the last quarter of 2003. Back then, we thought that the re-election bids of the members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) in Congress, namely Reps. Ace Durano, Nerissa Soon-Ruiz or Sim Kintanar (who hails from Argao, the same town of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.) would have been greatly affected.

In the end, all of those involved in that controversy were able to retain their congressional seats. Perhaps, only Rep. Sim Kintanar had a close call in the sense that he abstained in voting for Davide’s impeachment, rather than defend his townmate. I don’t know if the Cebuano voter couldn’t care any less or they’re simply forgetful!

But in Cebu City, the son of Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., Atty. Hilario Davide III, entered the realm of politics as a first-timer and was overwhelmingly voted into the city council, getting the biggest number votes from the North and earning the title of first councilor of the North District. Yes, while we are seeing new faces like Jun Jun Davide, Yayoy Alcoseba, Jun Pe, Joey Daluz, Edu Rama and Edwin Jagmoc in the Cebu City council, we only see old faces in the House of Representatives coming from Cebu.

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Last Monday, the Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) held its annual stockholders’ meeting at the Marriott Hotel in Cebu City. As reported by AEV president and CEO Jon Ramon Aboitiz, AEV posted earnings of P1.575 billion in 2001, P2.2 billion in 2002 and P2.02 billion in 2003 which add up to a compounded growth rate of 22 percent. Aboitiz emphasized that AEV’s performance did not go unnoticed as it was featured by Asiamoney Magazine as the Second Best Small Cap Company in the Philippines.

AEV’s growth and success was led by the power companies, where Aboitiz Power Corp. repositioned to hold purely generation assets, while the distribution interests were moved back to AEV, along with Aboitiz PowerSolutions Inc. Jon Aboitiz noted that AEV’s future may require partnerships or affiliations with other companies in power generation.

For his part, Erramon I. Aboitiz, executive vice president and COO of AEV, reported that Davao Light & Power posted a profit of P469 million for 2003, which was 24 percent higher than in 2002. He also mentioned that in 2003, the Visayan Electric Company (VECO), which is the second largest power company in the country, registered a net income of P14 million, 82 percent lower than in 2002. But both AEV executives were hopeful of a turnaround by VECO in the next few months. AEV also reported success in its banking business, notably Union Bank, and that Aboitiz Transport remains the industry leader despite pressing problems like the rise of fuel prices. All told, the Cebu-based conglomerate showed an uncanny growth despite our fragile economy.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.