The Khos and the politics of Masbate

Masbate Province might as well be renamed Masbate Kho. All the top elective offices in the province are monopolized by only one dynasty, the Kho family. As of today, there’s no strong opposition.

There was a time when the Espinosa political dynasty in Masbate was invincible in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Emilio Espinosa was a trusted follower of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Miling Espinosa was appointed to the Cabinet and even ran for senator. But the Espinosas vanished politically and some were murdered. Then the Lanetes entered in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s followed by the Khos, who are now seemingly well-entrenched and very difficult to challenge.

Masbate isn’t a rich province but has vast potential for economic growth and socio-economic progress, if only its leaders are genuinely interested and competent to steer the province toward development. The recent typhoon that devastated Masbate's infrastructure and livelihoods demonstrated how vulnerable this province is to natural calamities and disasters. It also showed how unprepared its officials are to protect and assist its people in times of great tragedies.

As we all know, Masbate straddles the two island groupings of the Philippine archipelago between Luzon and the Visayas. Relative to other provinces, it’s small, with no independent city, with only one component city, and with only 20 municipalities and with 550 barangays. Despite its much smaller size, compared to neighboring provinces of Cebu and Leyte and the other provinces of Region 5, Masbate has been gerrymandered obviously to give respective turfs to the ruling Kho dynasty.

Masbate has an area of only 4,151.78 square kilometers, which is only thirty-first among the 81 provinces of the country in terms of size. In population, it has only 910,813, not even one million, or even less than one-fourth of the population of Cebu. In terms of number of residents, it is forty-third in ranking among the 81 provinces. And yet, it has managed to divide the small province into three districts, obviously to divide the political turf among the three Kho family members.

The provincial governor is Richard Kho of Lakas, who won in the last elections with 320,556 over his LP opponent Socrates Tuason who got only 130,564. Kho's running mate, Fernando Talisic also of Lakas likewise defeated Pert Gadia of LP for vice governor. All the board members of Lakas also won over their LP opponents. It was a complete victory for the Khos again, even in the congressional races.

The 1st District comprises two islands with a combined area of only 814.48 square kilometers, and a small population of only 177,651. It has only six small towns of San Pascual, Claveria, Monreal, San Jacinto, San Fernando, and Batuan. The town of Batuan has only 14,610 people. San Fernando has only 21,600 people, smaller than a barangay in Cebu City. The district representative is Antonio Kho. He won in the 2025 election without any opponent.

The 2nd District, represented by sister Olga Kho since 2022, is a little bigger with a combined area of 2,053.25 square kilometers and a population of 404,366. It comprises the northern half of the main island and covers the component city of Masbate and the municipalities of Aroroy, Mandaon, Balod, Milagros, Baleno, and Mobo. Masbate City has 104,522 residents while Baleno has only 28,855. In the 2025 congressional race, Olga won with 140,719 votes over Noel Tuason of LP who garnered 53,547, and independent aspirant Sherman Valera who got only 1,952 votes.

The 3rd district is the southern half of the main island, represented by another brother, Wilton Kho, since 2019, and has a total area of 1,284.05 square kilometers and a population of 326,903. It covers the municipalities of Uson, Cawayan, Dimasalang, Palanas, Placer, Cataingan, Pio V. Corpuz, and Esperanza. Tonton Kho, with 127,161 votes convincingly won over his opponent, LP's Ricar Vasquez who garnered only 15,436 votes.

Pio V. Corpuz has only 23,744 people. This is the hometown of the great writer and sportsman, Atty. Frank Malilong Jr., Frank could have been a more qualified congressman if his family name were Kho. But as I see it the politics of money, machinery, and might is very, very hard to overcome.

Masbate should now be named Masbate Kho. It’s the only family name with political clout in that province as of today. But, for how long? The Espinosas and Lanetes had their ending, when will it be for the Khos? The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind.