2019 Polls will be costly in this place

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

The 2019 local election will be costly for some candidates running for election and reelection in the 44 towns and three cities’ province of Pangasinan, a town mayor cited.

The mayor, who asked anonymity, said a gubernatorial aspirant needs about half-a-billion pesos just to buy votes to ingratiate from the voters and the mayors.

“Ilagay mo Five Million Pesos allocation sa 44 town mayors, that will be P220 million. How about the five million pesos for each of the 44 towns where the candidate will buy votes? That will be another P220 million. How much will be the total expenses? A staggering P440 million!” he cited.

A bag that contains millions of pesos used by a
 politician to buy votes in the Philippines.

He said the almost half – a-billion price tag will not be enough to effectively clinch the provincial diadem, he needs another hundreds of millions to have an edge in a poll where wherewithal counts as the silver bullet.

Some sources have been speculating that either former Congressman Mark C. Cojuangco or Abono Party List Representative Conrad Estrella will challenge Governor Amado Espino III in the next year’s poll.

The scion of Business Magnate Danding Cojuangco (Forbes' 11th richest with P67.6 billion assets) is rumored too to reclaim his Fifth Congressional Post now under Congressman Amado T. Espino, Jr. who is the father of the governor with the same namesake.

Estrella has been stumping lately the mammoth province with some senators and senatorial wannabes.

Last Tuesday, Cojuangco told an ex-mayor that he will be meeting his loyal political leaders in Pangasinan if he will be throwing his hat again in the provincial arena comes 2019, the mayor said.

The former congressman, the source said, was with two Australian investors who are looking for a site for their multi-billion pesos business.

In the 2016 governorship election, the mayor cited, one candidate spent P400 million while the other candidate spent P1 billion.

“With a candidate who has a billion pesos in this election, he can still damage his opponent despite the latter winning the race.” he cited.

 Political scientists called that scenario as Pyrrhic victory. It is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the winner that it is tantamount to defeat.
"It can make or unmake a politico," he cited.

The mayor said however that political spectators should look to a reelectionist congressman or his spouse.

“Congressmen now under the fund - rich Build-Build-Build Project of Duterte average to have P1.5 billion a year allocation from the national government”.

He computed that if a solon gets 15 percent as SOP or cut from that P1.5 billion, he or she will have P225 million a year or P675 million in his or her three years’ stint.

“That’s a lot of monies he can pour to the villages, the towns, and cities for the voters and the loyalty of the mayors to support him”.

He said that he was not yet including on his list the lobby monies the congressmen get from big businesses to sway their stance on their legislative works at the August Chamber.

With payolas that once swelled the pockets of elected officials from illegal number game jueteng mitigated under the Duterte Administration, the congressmen have more monies than the other elective officials as the source compared the S.O.Ps of these officials on their 20 percent Development Funds of their annual appropriation budget.

In the six congressional districts in the province, three congressmen will end their term in 2019.

Either of their spouses or kin will succeed them by throwing their hats on the congressional election, the mayor told reporters.

(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)