TACLOBAN CITY - Out-going city mayor Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez may not run for a congressional post after all as he is said to be “interested” of the post presently occupied by Leyte Gov. Jericho “Icot” Petilla.
This was disclosed by a source of Leyte Samar Daily Express who added that his nephew, Martin Ferdinand Romualdez, also appears to be interested in following the family’s footstep by running for the province’s first congressional district.
“It appears that these are the political plans of the Romualdezes for next year’s political derby,” the source, who is close to the family, but who asked not to be identified, told Express.
The city mayor, who is now on his third and last term, announced earlier that he is still capable of running for an elective position in next year’s elections. He, however, said that he might run for Leyte’s first congressional post occupied at present by Rep. Remedios “Matin” Petilla, a third-termer former governor.
The 72-year-old mayor told Express that what would only stop him from gunning for an elective post next year is his physical condition. “But I feel okey and healthy,” he previously said. In 2002, Romualdez had a successful heart-by pass operation.
The source told Express that as part of the Romualdezes’ positioning relative to the 2007 elections, the city mayor had been going around, for the meantime, within the province’s first congressional district. Martin, on the other hand, has yet to make moves making his presence felt in the first congressional district as part of his reported plan to run for Congress.
The young Romualdez, though is not a total political green-horn as he once served as the provincial chairman of the Kilusan ng mga Kabataan (KB), the forerunner of the Sanggunian ng mga Kabataan (SK) during the last years of his father’s term, former governor Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez.
Martin, who is a lawyer by profession, is the vice president of one of the country’s biggest commercial bank, Equitable Bank, among other positions he holds as a businessman.
Reached for comment on this reported political plans of the family, City Administrator Jimmy “Jimjim” Yaokasin admitted that “two Romualdezes” would run for elective posts in next year’s elections.
“But as to who and what positions they will be seeking, I am not in the position to say...it is not clear yet,” Yaokasin told Express.
Pressed if one of them is Martin Ferdinand, the city administrator said he could be adding that the young Romualdez, based on his information, had signified his interest to plunge into politics.
“But on what position he might seek in next year’s elections, I don’t know yet,” Yaokasin said.
Asked if the family, which had ruled the province for almost four decades, has still the capacity to beat the Petilla-Loreto clan, now the province’s most well-entrenched political families, Yaokasin answered in the affirmative.
“They are part of Leyte’s leadership. While there were an instance that they had a break in the political scene in Leyte, they have been in politics for 40 years already,” Yaokasin explained.
In 1986, the political stronghold of the Romualdezes in Leyte was broken when EDSA People Power I erupted forcing the family to leave the country. But the family, with still the formidable former first lady Imelda Marcos at the forefront, managed to somehow recapture their political power.
The Marcos widow, after her returned from exile in the United States, run and won for Leyte’s first congressional district in 1992. Her nephew, Alfred, son of the present city mayor, took the post only to lose to television and radio broadcaster Ted Failon in 2001.
In the same elections, Alfred’s brother, Carlos, ran but also lost in the second congressional district despite Imelda’s campaigning for him. But their father managed to win on his third and last foray as mayor of the city.
“But bumps come along the way,” Yaokasin, in describing the twin political loss of the family on that elections, said.
The city administrator maintains that the family has still “solid supporters” in the province whom he said are expected to support the Romualdezes in next year’s elections.
