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CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia lost the gubernatorial seat of the province to ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s ally, Pamela Baricuatro, who was proclaimed its newest governor on Tuesday, May 13.
Baricuatro won the race with more than 1.1 million votes against Garcia who got around 765,000 votes, based on a partial, unofficial count from the Cebu Provincial Board of Canvassers and Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of 3:26 pm, Tuesday afternoon.
“I have no mayors and barangay captains behind me. I only have the people behind me, so I want to be known as the people’s governor,” Baricuatro told the media after her proclamation.
It was an unfamiliar scene for many Cebuanos.
Baricuatro, a neophyte politician known for her work at the helm of humanitarian organization Simply Share Foundation, unseated the Cebu governor who held the post since 2004.
Garcia had the support of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who went to Dumanjug town on May 5, with her comrades from her party One Cebu to not just endorse her, but also the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate.
Many senatorial candidates like Kiko Pangilinan courted Garcia’s endorsement as early as 2024.
The governor had a well-known track record for delivering more than a million votes to candidates she endorsed. These include former presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Rodrigo Duterte, and Marcos Jr. himself.
Garcia’s One Cebu held a convention on September 30, 2024, which saw the attendance of nearly all Cebu local leaders, including 52 out of 53 mayors, 11 congressmen, and other officials.
Yet, based on the results, it still wasn’t enough. So what happened to Garcia’s hold over Cebu?
Perhaps, Duterte?
Despite it being an “unfamiliar” scene, there was still a sense of déjà vu with Baricuatro’s proclamation.
The debuting public servant’s supporters chanted “Duterte,” after Baricuatro’s hand was raised by the Cebu Provincial Election Officer, lawyer Marchel Sarno. The new governor ran under Duterte’s party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban).
Many Duterte supporters were quick to point out on social media that Baricuatro’s campaign was carried by the loud support for the former president. Baricuatro attributed her victory to the former president’s endorsing her in a February indignation rally.
Partial, unofficial results from the Comelec as of 8:30 am, May 15, showed that in the Cebu province, excluding Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Cebu City, at least six PDP-Laban bets and two known Duterte allies were in the province’s top 12 senatorial picks — exclusive to that list is Camille Villar who got PDP–Laban’s endorsement but was still on the Alyansa slate.
However, unlike Baricuatro, some candidates who received Duterte’s endorsement failed to win the seats they were vying for.
In the Cebu City mayoral race, ex-mayor Mike Rama lost against Cebu City Councilor Nestor Archival — Rama is PDP-Laban’s vice president for the Visayas.
Rama got only 118,054 votes, outgoing Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia got 175,116, and Archival got 253,325 votes.
In the Lapu-Lapu City mayoral race, ex-congresswoman and PDP–Laban bet Paz Radaza lost with only 42,527 votes to Lapu-Lapu City Lone District Representative Ma. Cynthia “Cindi” Chan who received 141,134.
In Mandaue City, dismissed mayor Jonas Cortes went up against Cebu Provincial Board member Thadeo “Jonkie” Ouano for the mayoral seat.
Cortes ran under Garcia’s One Cebu but still got Duterte’s endorsement. Ouano ran under Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas–CMD), the party of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, the President’s close ally and first cousin.
Ouano won with 101,549 votes against Cortes who got 94,448.
The cities of Mandaue, Cebu, and Lapu-Lapu are chartered cities, which means they don’t vote for candidates vying for provincial offices. However, Mandaue City can vote in provincial electoral races because of Republic Act No. 6641.
Mandaue City voted in favor of Baricuatro with 113,602 votes over Garcia with 70,582.
How did the province vote?
From the start, Garcia’s One Cebu party ended up being the “majority” party, or those with most candidates winning in 39 out of 51 towns and cities that could vote for the governor. 33 of the mayoral candidates that won in their respective areas were from One Cebu.
This would have given Garcia the advantage, given that her allies were winning and that it would also accrue to her favor. However, this was not the case.
Baricuatro won in all the towns and cities of the first district of Cebu, which includes Carcar, Naga, Talisay, Minglanilla, San Fernando and Sibonga. There, Baricuatro mustered a total of 285,918 votes versus Gwen’s 98,262.
It’s worth noting that the 1st District is the most vote-rich district in Cebu with votes reaching over 390,000.
The 1st District is where Garcia’s allies, the Gullas clan, reside. The incumbent representative of that district is Rhea Mae Gullas, the wife of Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas — both were reelected and unopposed.
The second most vote-rich district, Cebu’s 5th District, where Garcia’s son-in-law Duke Frasco won as representative, saw the outgoing governor losing to Baricuatro.
This district includes Liloan town, where Garcia’s daughter, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, used to be mayor. In Liloan, Garcia lost at 28,745 votes to Baricuatro winning of 38,586 votes — partial unofficial results showed that the Frascos won the mayoral and vice mayoral seat of Liloan, while Duke was reelected as 5th district representative.
Garcia also lost to Baricuatro in the 3rd District where her brother Pablo John Garcia and herself served as its representative. The 3rd District includes Toledo, Aloguinsan, Asturias, Balamban, Barili, Pinamungajan and Tuburan.
What is most interesting is that there were 18 Cebu towns and cities that had the Garcia-led One Cebu as the majority winning party but Baricuatro was winning over Garcia in votes.
These 18 towns and cities are Alcantara, Alcoy, Alegria, Aloguinsan, Argao, Asturias, Badian, Balamban, Boljoon, Carmen, Catmon, Toledo City, Ginatilan, Liloan, Medellin, Moalboal, Oslob, and Ronda.
Garcia’s allies and relatives were able to deliver votes for themselves but not for the woman they “nominated” as One Cebu’s standard bearer.
Garcia country no more?
For University of San Carlos Political Science department faculty member Niño Olayvar, Garcia’s “leadership style” in the past few years may have affected her chances of winning the election.
“I think some of the leaders under One Cebu may have opted for Baricuatro come election day, due to the antagonizing nature of Gwen’s leadership the past few years,” Olayvar told Rappler.
He added that the outgoing governor may have lost because of a confluence of factors, including having antagonized a significant portion of local power holders or influential forces on the ground — both public and private individuals. It could not have been purely because of Duterte supporters choosing Baricuatro over Garcia.
Garcia is not without her share of controversies; she has even defied administrative orders by national agencies. In her social media pages and livestreamed press conferences, Garcia has been known to lash out at private citizens, rights organizations, and other public officials for “meddling” in her affairs.
During the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo in Carcar City in August 2023, Garcia yanked a microphone out of a podium after the audio system of the event failed, accusing the sound and lights provider for sabotaging the event.
Dr. Cyril Villanueva, in a social media post, pointed out how, in August 2019, provincial hospitals had reduced a number of government-employed health care workers when Garcia returned as governor. Villanueva was one of many medical practitioners who were laid off from the Carcar Provincial Hospital.
During this time, Garcia decided to use an outsourcing scheme that would hire contractual medical and clerical personnel for the province’s hospitals through an agency, which she claimed would save the province money.
“I ended my last duty seeing what was once a vibrant, efficient, now seemingly abandoned provincial hospital: ICU closed, peritoneal dialysis closed, private rooms and OPD closed,” Villanueva said.
Baricuatro’s main platform revolved around improving the province’s healthcare system, which residents considered a top issue that gubernatorial candidates should address.
“Power really does not rest on who is sitting on the high throne. You gave them that power. Politicians only win, if we let them,” Villanueva concluded. – Rappler.com
