INQUIRER.net Eleksyon 2007

Solon’s withdrawal stuns Marinduque

Southern Luzon Bureau

Gerald Gene R. Querubin

BOAC, Marinduque, Philippines -- The race for this province’s gubernatorial post is now wide open after Marinduque Representative Edmundo Reyes Jr. dropped his candidacy despite a local survey showing him leading rivals by a mile.

Reyes is on his last term as representative of Marinduque.

Reyes' decision to back out from the gubernatorial race stunned majority of the Marinduqueños because he was a shoo-in for the post. He ran unopposed in 2004 for the third of the allowable three consecutive terms as congressman.

Many employees of the provincial capitol shed tears while others were shocked and surprised when Reyes announced his plans not to run as governor in the coming May elections.

According to Reyes, he withdrew from the gubernatorial race to concentrate on his family and to have more quality time with them.

Prior to his announcement last Monday, Reyes was leading over the only other aspirant Wilfredo Red, a former assemblyman of the province, in a survey of 1,200 respondents conducted by political science students of the Marinduque State College.

Reyes got 87 percent of the votes, Red, 4 percent and those who either abstained or were still undecided constituted 9 percent. The survey was made from March 1 to 10, 2007.

When the deadline of the filing of candidacy ended midnight of March 29, there were six aspirants who filed applications for the gubernatorial post.

These were Percival Morales, mayor of Sta. Cruz, the biggest municipality in Marinduque and the replacement of Reyes in the Lakas-CMD line-up; Melecio Go, an incumbent board member of the province and the official candidate of Kampi; Bong Carreon, former governor and ex-husband of Imelda Papin; Narciso Daquiaog; Toto Nepomuceno, a former board member of the province; and Red.

According to local election analysts, with the expanded line-up for the gubernatorial post, the field was leveled and nobody among the six candidates could claim that they had the upper hand in the race.

Meanwhile, it will be a three-way fight for the Congress seat to be vacated by Reyes.

The post for representative of Marinduque is being contested by incumbent Governor Carmencita Reyes of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats; Liga ng mga Barangay National President James Marty Lim; and former Philippine National Police top official Santiago Alino.

Copyright 2010 INQUIRER.net and content partners. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.