Mayor Ramon "Mon" Revilla Bautista Jr. won in the 2001 mayoral polls by a scant 62 votes over the Nagaños — Froilan, a former provincial board member, and Hortensia, wife of his brother Eulinio, a former three-term mayor.
Now, the young Revilla is expected to encounter rough sailing as Eulinio and Froilan, sons of former mayor Tagumpay Nagaño, decided to patch up their differences.
The Nagaños smoked the peace pipe in Froilan’s residence in Barangay Mambangnan recently, ending a three-year feud. The meeting was reportedly arranged by Nueva Ecija Gov. Tomas Joson III.
As a result of the meeting, Froilan would no longer run for mayor and would instead support the candidacy of Eulinio.
The Nagaño brothers had not been on speaking terms since 2001 when Froilan decided to join the mayoral fray against Hortensia and Revilla, thus splitting the Nagaño votes.
Froilan protested Revilla’s victory but his case was eventually dismissed. Hortensia’s protest remains pending.
With Froilan now behind him, Eulinio said he expects to win by a landslide vote, claiming he has the support of 10 or two-thirds of the town’s 15 barangay chairmen.
"He (Revilla) would be lucky to win in two of the 15 barangays of San Leonardo," he said.
Eulinio recalled that when his wife, Froilan and Revilla ran against each other in the 2001 polls, they were able to get 6,000 votes each.
"With my brother now supporting me, do you think Mayor Revilla can muster 3,000 additional votes to make it even at 9,000 votes each?" he asked.
Revilla, however, is unfazed, recalling that when he ran for mayor in 2001, he only had one barangay chairman supporting him.
Belying Froilan’s claim, he said 10 barangay chairmen have thrown their support behind him.
"It’s okay with me if they reconciled. I like my chances now," he said.