Plaza-Amante rivalry heats up in Agusan

CARMEN, Agusan del Norte — The 75-year-old matriarch of the Plaza political clan, former Agusan del Sur governor Valentina Galido Plaza, is this small town’s 10,246th registered voter.

At 75, Plaza jokingly said she could still jog on the way to the voting precinct and hinted that she could even mount a campaign if the people of Agusan del Norte want her to run for an elective post.

She told reporters that campaigning in Agusan del Norte, which has 11 municipalities, would not be as hard as in Agusan del Sur, which has 19 towns and is the biggest in the Caraga region in terms of land area and the number of registered voters.

The Plazas are the biggest political clan in the region — and probably the richest with business interests in agriculture, construction and real estate development, and cement manufacturing, among others.

Plaza was accompanied by her sons, grandsons, aspiring politicians and supporters led by Carmen Mayor Jovette Calo and her husband, Ramon, a former mayor, when she registered as voter with the municipal office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last Friday afternoon.

Plaza’s decision to be a registered voter of this town is believed to be in retaliation for the move of the Amantes, the Plazas’ rival political clan, to enter politics in Butuan City, a political bailiwick of the Plazas.

Maria Celeste Lugluban, the municipal Comelec officer, said the elder Plaza will be Carmen’s 10,246th voter.

Born on Feb. 14, 1931, the Plaza matriarch placed her residential address in the certificate of voter’s registration as Sitio Bulihon, Barangay Tagcatong, Carmen, Agusan del Norte.

Plaza’s close political ally, former mayor Monching Calo, said they would announce soon to which political party they would align themselves with, but hinted that it would definitely be under President Arroyo’s umbrella.

For decades, the Plazas have dominated the political landscape of Agusan del Sur and Butuan City.

In the May 2007 elections, one of Plaza’s daughters is reportedly running for provincial board member of Agusan del Sur.

The political rivalry between the Plazas and Amantes heated up anew after Agusan del Norte Rep. Maria Angelica Rossdel Malvas Amante-Matba officially registered as a voter of Butuan City.

The congresswoman has the support of Butuan City councilor Ryan Anthony Culima and Angelo Azura Jimenez, deputy administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

Jimenez has publicly expressed his desire to run for Congress representing Butuan City, while Culima has announced his intention to run for vice mayor as the running mate of Amante-Matba in next year’s elections.

Lawyer Benjamen Rosales, the congresswoman’s chief of staff, confirmed to The STAR that it would be a Jimenez-Amante-Culima line-up for Butuan City congressman, mayor and vice mayor, respectively, in the 2007 polls.

At a press conference after her registration, Amante-Matba vowed to introduce what she claimed to be a new kind of politics in Butuan and would initiate fiscal reforms to save the city from its "heavy indebtedness."

Asked if she would investigate alleged anomalies at the Butuan City Hall, Amante-Matba, whose husband is former Tawi-Tawi governor Rush Matba, said she would if the law provides for it.

If elected mayor, she said her first order of the day would be a citywide audit to determine how indebted the city government is.

"This is to determine whether Butuan City has resources to renew and re-focus priorities for development," she said.

The Amantes have claimed that their recent political moves were only in reaction to the Plazas’ decision to enter politics in Agusan del Norte, their political bailiwick.