Manila Times
The administration’s Liberal Party (LP) is fielding a homegrown construction magnate as governor of Cagayan to end the Enriles’ political reign of nearly five decades.
Presidential legislative liaison office head Secretary Manuel Mamba said the LP hopes to end the Enriles’ political influence in the province come 2016 elections.
“We strongly believe that we can do it with the entry of DDT [Danilo T Tamayo] as our gubernatorial candidate in the May 2016 synchronised national and local elections,” Mamba said on Saturday.
Tamayo hails from Cagayan’s northern coastal town of Buguey which is part of the first congressional district where Gonzaga, the hometown of senator Juan Ponce Enrile, also belongs.
The younger Enrile’s wife, Sally, is the district’s incumbent representative.
Tamayo, 58, is the president and chairman of DDT Construction, Inc engaged in the building roads, bridges, high-end residential condominiums, industrial buildings and mass housing projects.
Among Tamayo’s clients are the Ayala Land, Inc., SM Investment Corp., Robinsons Land Corp., Magsaysay Institute of Shipping, Pacific Concorde Properties, Inc., Greenfield Development Corp. and One Asia Development Corp.
Mamba admitted that Tamayo is politically unknown among the Cagayanos “and yet he is a good material to end the Enriles’ political dominance in the province”.
In a press statement, Mamba said: “[Tamayo] is a self-made man. He epitomises honesty and hard work. He will be the antidote to the Enriles’ politics of patronage”.
Mamba, the LP chairman for Cagayan Valley, was a three-term congressman of the province’s third district. He lost to reelectionist governor Alvaro Antonio in the 2010 elections, but this time he said “I am sacrificing my own gubernatorial bid to give way to Tamayo”.
“Tamayo is full of integrity as an edge against the Enriles. In terms of resources, he can also match the Enriles with money for money,” Mamba said.
He said a definite plus factor for Tamayo’s victory is the backing of the president and the LP.
Tamayo’s expected rivals for Cagayan’s top leadership are senator Juan Ponce Enrile or his son, former three-term congressman Juan Jack Ponce Enrile Jr.
The elder Enrile, who is currently detained at Camp Crame custodial center for plunder charges, is now on his last term as senator. While he is reportedly being groomed by his political allies to run for governor, the younger Enrile is also being prepared for another attempt at a senate post.
Reports however said that vice governor Leonides Fausto, Enrile’s political ally, will be fielded for the gubernatorial post should the elder Enrile decides to retire from politics with his son running anew for the senate.
