By Alex P. Vidal
“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”— Edmund Burke
WHOEVER conceptualized the idea of fielding Iloilo second district Rep. Michael “Mike” Gorriceta for vice governor against the handpicked candidate of the Garin clan in the next election is a political genius.
Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. currently is believed to be standing on a solid rock thus his reelection for a third and final term in 2025 is considered to be crystal clear, bearing unforeseen circumstances.
But he can’t navigate the globe on a solo flight. It always takes two to tango in the space and in political shuttling.
Thus, when happy face Gorriceta entered the picture and hacked out a denouement in the search for Captain Atom, some people in the first district of Iloilo flipped out.
Did happy face Gorriceta seek the job, or did somebody (the genius person we mentioned a while ago) persuade him?
Defensor Jr’s rumored runningmate happy face Gorriceta, however, will be a “dead meat” (with due respect to the Gorriceta family) if another Garin (incumbent three-termer Vice Governor Christine “Tingting” Garin is ineligible for the fourth term) will run for vice governor.
If Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Sharon Garin or Miag-ao Mayor Oscar “Richard” Garin Jr. will vie for their sister Tingting’s position, Gorriceta, a former mayor of Pavia town, will face both the brick wall and the sledgehammer.
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The dreaded Defensor clan is aware of the rival Garin clan’s immense power in a land, sea, and air political assault.
It is also aware that in a chess match with the Garins, both parties try to avoid a direct collision course, if possible, in order to preserve the status quo—whatever that means; and avert a Pyrrhic battle royale.
Election 2025 isn’t yet the year that the Lord has programmed for the two behemoth political families to clash and engage in Armageddon.
Without a dynasty, any pompadoured and Areneo-speaking punk can never win a major elected position in Iloilo Province.
Not against the Defensor, Garin, and Biron dynasties.
Happy face Gorriceta will be swallowed whole by the Garin clan’s staggering machinery that includes grassroots volunteer organizations planted deeply by the late Garin patriarch Oscar “Oca” Sr., oodles of cash (almost all the Garin adults draw salaries from the public coffers), and a rapport with the Marcoses.
If he will run for reelection, Rep. Gorriceta will walk in the park. If he runs for vice governor, he becomes a sacrificial lamb.
The Birons complete the triumvirate of Iloilo political dynasties after Defensor and Garin.
So far, this clan from the fourth district of Iloilo has remained reticent and continued to keep everyone under suspended animation in as far as their plans in the 2025 electoral combat is concerned.
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Millions of people across Mexico, the United States and Canada were be able to see a total solar eclipse April 8. The path of totality — where it’s possible to see the moon completely block out the sun — drew thousands of tourists to states from Texas to Maine. Those who were not in areas with the best view were still able to get a glimpse of a partial solar eclipse when the moon covered part of the sun. But for many Americans, it was the last chance to see a total solar eclipse for 20 years. The next one won’t be visible across the contiguous US again until August 2044.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)
