Will there be a Nogie-Sara mayoral fight in 2010?
By ROGER M. BALANZA
Don’t ask Vice Mayor Inday Sara Duterte because she is already dead set to throw her hat in the derby. Sara said Sunday her father Mayor Rodrigo Duterte—who is on his last term—had formally asked her a few weeks during her birthday to run for the mayorship.
And House Speaker Prospero Nograles? His latest tunes—titles and bits of lines from his favorite songs—appear like the sounds of war drums.
It’s not far-fetched, the Davao City congressman told media in his latest interview when asked about persistent talks he is gunning for the mayorship in the next polls.
“Like now, the end is near. Like almost there. Like, it’s the nearness of you. Like it’s all the way,” said Nograles. Political pundits here very well know the message that the Speaker wants to impart to his fans and foes, including the Dutertes.
By the “end is near,” he meant the end of the Dutertes in the coming polls. “Almost there” could mean City Hall is but an arms length away. The line “nearness of you” means he is too close to victory. “All the way” means he is hot and raring to go into battle until victory is achieved.
Observers here said the 2010 mayoral race could be the best time for Nograles to capture City Hall. He lost the race in 1992 against Mayor Duterte and in 1998 to then Vice Mayor Benjamin de Guzman, Duterte’s ally turned political foe who is now in the camp of Nograles.
Not only would Nograles be backed by the formidable administration machinery and campaign funds, said the observers, but also has lured into his folds de Guzman and comebacking Third District congressman Roy Elias Lopez.
Reportedly, Nograles has a strong hold in the First District, where son Karlo Nograles is running for the congressional post he would vacate. Latest reports said Mayor Duterte would again run for the post he held in 1998-2001, before trouncing de Guzman in his return bid in 2001, to make the coming elections a battle between the Dutertes and the Nograleses.
In the Second District, last termer congressman Vince Garcia is fielding his sister Mylene Garcia-Albano, who could pitch camp with Nograles, the Garcia’s being long-time allies of President Arroyo.
Observers’s observations about a potential take-over by the Nograleses of city top post however could remain as mere armchair analysts’ wide guesses: Mayor Duterte’s political dominance and the legacy of good governance and focus on peace and order has left a deep imprint on the public consciousness that could not be easily demolished by an administration machinery, new political groupings or by floods of money to buy votes, according to friends of Mayor Duterte, who has already served the city for more than 20 years.
Filed under: Duterte, Duterte-Nograles fight, POLITICS, Sara Duterte, davao city
