SAN FERNANDO, Camarines Sur-In a thriving eatery along the National Highway in Naga City, there is one thing on display aside from kinalas-the distinctive hot broth prepared by mixing beef strips with noodles and spices.
Displayed conspicuously inside the eatery is a framed photograph of Camarines Sur first district Representative Diosdado Ignacio "Dato" Arroyo together with a man who is probably the owner of the place.
The man is smiling and seems very proud that he is posing with the presidential son who has represented the vote-rich district of this equally vote-rich province for three years now despite his not being a pure-blooded Bikolano.
Dato Arroyo is President Gloria Arroyo's youngest child, who established residence in Libmanan, the most populous town of this province, in 2006 so he could run for a seat in the Congress representing the district composed of 11 towns.
The scene is just among the proofs of how the younger Arroyo, a political neophyte, has established himself as a charismatic figure in this province that for decades has been ruled by powerful political clans including the Villafuertes, Alfelors, Andayas, Rocos, and Fuentebellas.
Neophyte congressman
What contributed to Arroyo's surge to prominence has been his full use of the advantage and influence he has as a presidential son.
Since the start of his term, he virtually bombarded his district with projects ranging from obscure rice dryers and conversions of village high schools to road networks and irrigation system.
Not all his projects are well-received however. The controversial Libmanan-Cabusao Dam, for instance, met resistance which led to it being suspended by its implementing agency-the National Irrigation Administration.
According to the dam's critics, the P1 billion diversion dam would cause the displacement of several residents and inundation of fertile agricultural lands in Lupi town.
From Del Gallego, one of the towns farthest from the geographic center of this province, to this municipality, tarpaulins expressing gratitude to the first-term lawmaker sprout sporadically.
"I am not a big fan of Dato, [but] in fairness to him, what he accomplished in his two years in office representing the first district in terms of infrastructure and livelihood projects far surpassed his predecessors combined," said Carlo Batalla, provincial board member from the first district, adding that Arroyo's dam project would boost play production and would generate much-needed income for farmers.
Based from the information found on the website of the House of Representatives, Arroyo has authored and co-authored at least 150 House bills, including House bill 1706, which sought to amend certain provisions of the intellectual property code of the Philippines to pave way for the development, distribution, and importation of cheaper medicines.
Mabulo
Now, Arroyo is running for a seat in the Congress again. But this time, he seeks to represent the newly-apportioned second congressional district, composed of five towns from the original first district-Libmanan, Pamplona, this town, Minalabac, Pasacao-and two towns from the former second district-Milaor and Gainza.
Due to his perceived popularity, some have seen him as a shoo-in.
But Fermin Mabulo, mayor of this fourth class municipality (income: P20 million to P29 million), believes he could win against Arroyo in the race to represent the newly-minted district in the Congress.
Fermin was the younger brother of the former mayor of this town, Sabas Mabulo, who ran against Arroyo in the 2007 elections in what political pundits had deemed as a quixotic candidacy in the mold of Fr. Ed Panlilio's race versus the Pinedas and Lapids in Arroyos home province of Pampanga.
Sabas eventually lost to Arroyo although he surprisingly got 15 percent of the total votes cast and won a town other than his hometown, way beyond the expectation of the then outgoing Mayor who ran against the political machinery of an incumbent President.
"I believe I can win against Arroyo," said the younger Mabulo, who narrowly won the mayoralty of this municipality of 30,697 (2007) three years ago.
Mabulo was an Army captain and former member of the Magdalo group of renegade soldiers who staged the botched Oakwood Mutiny in 2001. But unlike several of his comrade, he was acquitted from the crime of coup d' etat in 2004 by the Supreme Court.
"Arroyo is not a Bikolano. His tenure as a Camarines Sur representative for three years does not make him a Bikolano. In fact, he is always not around in our district. How can he be a Bikolano with that?" Mabulo said.
"Good vs evil"
He added the electoral race between him and Arroyo would not be similar anymore to the "David versus Goliath" fight between his elder brother and Arroyo in 2007.
"Rather, it would be good versus evil."
He said it would be too much if three Arroyos would be member of the next Congress. He was referring to Dato's uncle, Negros Occidental representative Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo and the President, who is seeking to represent the congressional seat to be vacated by her eldest son, Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo.
He said Dato had been a "poderosong dayuhan" (powerful outsider) in his stint as congressman. "Although he deserves it for being a presidential son, the way he is guarded whenever he would visit our district is way too much, an overkill. Imagine seeing armed men toting K9 dogs. This must be put to an end."
Mabulo, unlike the soft-spoken Sabas, is known for his being feisty and perceived cockiness.
"I believe there is nothing wrong with being cocky especially if you know you can get things done."
Transparency
He said he would be running under a platform of transparency and empowerment of local governments, the areas which according to him had been overlooked by Arroyo.
He said he would see to it that every constituent would be involved in deciding developmental activities in the district. According to him, political patronage had proliferated under the representation of Arroyo. Only a chosen few were handpicking where a certain project would be implemented.
"I favor simple but efficient irrigation system over big projects such as the Libmanan-Cabusao Dam. Some favor construction of dam because they can chip away money from its budget. Because dams are usually built in secluded area, it is hard to check if the contractors did not short-change their construction just so funds allotted to them could be channeled to shady deals.
He said his town had successfully implemented a CBMS and counted it as one of his most important accomplishment.
If elected, he said he would see to it that community-based monitoring systems (CBMS) would be fully implemented in the district so it would be ensured that every government project would really benefit the people.
He said the P1 billion allotted for the Libmanan-Cabusao Dam could have built an entirely-paved road network in their district. "Or it could have rehabilitated the portion of the National Highway from our town to Quezon province."
He laid credit on what he said was his accomplishments in his municipality which included efficient and transparent revenue collection especially from the town's water system.
He said he would also implement livelihood projects in the district, which ran parallel to Ragay Gulf, a rich fishing grounds. "I will push for making our district the bagoong (fish paste) capital of the country."
He said he was confident that his candidacy now would not repeat the losing streak of his elder brother three years ago. "We have learned enough. Unlike before when we relied to a broad but loose coalition of people's organizations, we now had campaign leaders in all towns comprising our district.
Villafuerte support
He said he was also more confident now because of the support of Governor Luis Raymund "LRay" Villafuerte to his candidacy. Villafuerte was an erstwhile ally of Arroyo before the former abandoned the President's party and joined the camp of Senator Manuel Villar, standard bearer of Nacionalista Party, where Mabulo also belongs.
But he warned that the camp of the Arroyos could do everything to influence the ruling of the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the reapportionment of the original firs district if he prevailed over Dato.
Victor Dennis Nierva, resident of this town, convenor of those who oppose the construction of Libmanan-Cabusao dam, and columnist of local weekly Vox Bikol, predicted a hard-fought electoral contest between Mabulo and Arroyo.
"Dato has the sturdier machinery, while Fermin has the image of a fighter much like Abang (Sabas). Dato has her mother's unpopularity and other issues, Fermin has clout over municipalities. Dato has popularity, Fermin has LRay's blessing," said Nierva.
And although they share many things in common, Mabulo and Arroyo (of the same age and both studied at Ateneo de Naga University) are out for a fight which is poised to be the microcosm of the 2010 electoral race in this province, which is projected to be battles between perceived long shots and shoo-ins.