A CANDIDATE’S DIARY, DAY 22: MAKILALA BURNS AS PEOPLE SHOW DEFIANCE

The town of Makilala located at the boundary of Davao del Sur could yet prove to be an interesting political laboratory which will test up to what extent a defiant people could stand up to pressures by their local political leaders.

With two of their local political leaders, the vice governor and mayor, both running unopposed, pressure is being exerted on the people of the town to support the incumbent Governor.

The first to yield to the pressure were the barangay chairmen of the town’s 38 villages who were instructed to go all out in supporting the Governor.

Those who followed the order were reportedly given P200,000 each and a green multi-cab.

Next to be herded were the different purok chairmen who were given money and favors.

Threats and intimidation were also utilized against those who did not want to follow the order to support the incumbent Governor.

Members of the anti-poverty program 4Ps where the beneficiaries receive monthly financial support from the government through the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development were threatened that they will be purged from the list of beneficiaries if they do not support their leaders’ candidates.

But the people are defiant and understandably so.

With the prices of the town’s two leading agricultural products plummeting to an all time low since I left office in 2010, the people are standing up and defying their leaders.

A recent survey conducted by a separate political group showed me leading the incumbent Governor by a wide margin in Makilala where I got the voters’ preference rating of 70.8%.

The recent survey results pushed the other political group to press the panic button. Greater pressure, including attempted bribery, was exerted on my local campaign leaders.

But the attempt to pressure the people into voting for the incumbent Governor is starting to backfire.

The crowds in the rallies of the other political camp were visibly thin and even the sorties where the mayor and the Governor themselves were present have not drawn a decent number of people.

A local political candidate who obviously was banking on the political capital of his family in Makilala told some of my campaign leaders that: “If you do not want to vote for Gov. Lala, you might as well not vote for me.”

The immediate riposte he received from local people was: “If that is what you like then that is what we will do.”

A campaign leader in Barangay Malasila was threatened that if does not take off my poster displayed on his vehicle his cousin’s store in the public market would be shut down.

He took off the poster all right but he changed it with a bigger one showing incredible defiance.

“It’s easy for them to campaign for Gov. Mendoza because they benefit from their closeness with her but what about us ordinary people? They cannot sacrifice us for their own interests,” said a local campaign leader.

Makilala which used to be the hotbed of the communist insurgency in the province is once again showing its rebellious character.

But this time, the rebellion is being waged not by an armed group of ideologists but by the people themselves who feel aggrieved that their own political leaders are sacrificing their own people for their pecuniary and political benefits.

(Photo caption: A big crowd of people attend one of our mini-rallies in the town of Makilala.)