The mystery and misery of Philippine politics
AYEAR ago — February 8 to be precise — Karen Kate Cadiente, a young mother of two, was shot dead in Valencia, Negros Oriental. She was collateral damage in the violent retribution that had her estranged husband and his lady friend as its targets. Tim Mørch of Denmark and Maila Cagas were suspects in the murder of Don Paulo Teves, brother of Valencia’s mayor. Teves’ lifeless body, with a bullet in the head, had been found in a dumpster on February 6. Mørch and Cagas were arrested but released again, only to be gunned down by unknown assailants. Karen was not a suspect, yet she was killed together with her husband. Was anybody charged with these murders?
While Negros Oriental is no stranger to violent crime, February last year was bloodier. Aside from Mørch, Cagas and Karen, three persons, including two bystanders, were shot dead in one attack in Bayawan City. In Guihulngan City, the NPA executed an alleged rapist. Unknown assailants shot dead a former hitman.
Then came March and the assassination of Gov. Roel Degamo. A total of 10 persons were killed while dozens were wounded in the March 4 Pamplona massacre. The massacre changed Negros Oriental’s political landscape. Third District Rep. Arnie Teves, who was out of the country at the time of the massacre, was quickly tagged as suspected mastermind. He, by late July designated as a terrorist, is facing multiple counts of murder, frustrated and attempted murder, and financing of terrorism.
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has been the caretaker of Negros Oriental’s third legislative district since Teves’ expulsion from the House last August. A special election was scheduled on December 9, but lo and behold, the House of Representatives suddenly requested the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to cancel it. This happened a few days after the barangay and SK elections and right in the middle of the period for filing certificates of candidacy. The barangay and SK elections in Negros Oriental were as orderly and peaceful as they come, reflecting the general good peace and order situation in the province.
A source claims that the plan was to let someone who lacked one of the basic qualifications run, be proclaimed and take the seat. Accordingly, Comelec was expected to act on a disqualification petition only after proclamation. The House of Representatives has, from time to time, taken its sweet time in having a wrongly proclaimed candidate vacate his or her seat. However, Comelec, reportedly, was determined to act with dispatch on any petition for disqualification and not allow an unqualified candidate to be proclaimed. The failure of Comelec to act with finality on the disqualification case against nuisance candidate “Ruel Degamo” in the 2022 Negros Oriental gubernatorial election before election day caused so much confusion and political tension in the province.
So, without an election, Teves — expelled or not — is still a congressman in the eyes of many in Negros. Through a recent live video broadcast, he denounced the people’s initiative and sided with his political allies, the Dutertes.
While the Teves-Duterte alliance seems stronger than ever, the relationship between Teves and former congressman now Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez is not what it used to be. Teves, in a video message some months ago, begged Benitez to pay money that he owed him. He also asked why Benitez, his buddy, had not even sent him a text message to ask how he was. It was Teves who in August 2020 authored a bill that would have granted Benitez’s Visayas Cockers Club, Inc. — which ran e-sabong operation Sabong International PH — a 25-year franchise.
Mayor Benitez, unlike Teves, is supporting the current move to amend the 1987 Constitution. In early January the mayor told DZRH radio that the national executive board of the League of Cities of the Philippines — of which Benitez is the national chairman — had passed a resolution supporting the “initiative” (PDI, Jan. 9, 2024). However, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, LCP national president, denied this and issued an official statement to that effect. Rama’s statement, dated January 12, is posted on the official website of LCP. The mayor, while not against Charter change, strongly opposes the “people’s initiative.” “Cebu City is not for sale,” but 47,000 signatures have been submitted to Comelec’s Cebu City South District.
Philippine politics is so entertaining. But we are not amused. While many crave change, it is the change that brings freedom from violence and hardship. Initiative is welcome, but not the initiative that seeks self-serving privileges for the few while the majority of the people are being left out. The wave of violence that took Karen’s life may have subsided, but will her children be able to live the happy and safe lives that she must have wished for them?