Boboy vs. Agnes

THINGS that happen in the past get fuzzy as we move forward in time. That includes fleeting scenes, like my interview with then Danao City vice mayor Ramon “Boboy” Durano IV at the Danao City Hall in the ‘90s. I could not recall the issue we talked about, but I remember the then young official. He was articulate and confident.

But politics in Danao City and in the entire fifth district was and still is controlled by the older Duranos (Boboy belongs to the third generation). That means it was crowded at the top.

Danao City was then the turf of Jesus “Don” Durano. The fifth district where Danao City belongs was and still is controlled by Ramon “Nito” Durano III. The seat allocated for the district in the Provincial Board was held by another relative, Agnes Magpale. Nito would later be replaced by his sons, Magpale by her daughter and now her son.

It was obviously difficult for Boboy to wiggle into any higher position available to the Durano clan members. No wonder he accepted a posting at the Development Bank of the Philippines during the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It's also not surprising he is grabbing an opening in politics now in the form of a vice gubernatorial bid under the Garcias' One Cebu party.

*** I was still with The Freeman when I covered the Capitol beat as a neophyte increasing the number of his absences during sessions.

Into that legislative body Magpale plunged in the first of her many terms as PB member. She was among the sober voices there and eventually made a name for herself as a tireless worker. She was among the Capitol beat reporters' favorite PB members, together with Juan Bolo and the late Emmanuel “Bebs” Pepito. Our favorite “estambayan” was the office of then PB member Fermin Celestial (a.k.a. Nanding Celeste). reporter during the administration of then governor Vicente “Tingting” de la Serna in the mid-‘90s. Those were exciting times for media people who experience an adrenaline rush when covering situations of conflict. The quarrels made our day, sort of.

De la Serna was an “Osmeña slayer,” cutting short former governor Emilio “Lito” Osmeña's control of Capitol by defeating Lito's wife Annette in the 1992 elections. With Lito's cousin, Tomas Osmeña as mayor of Cebu City, the verbal exchange between the two local government unit executives would eventually erupt.

Tingting didn't also have total control of the Provincial Board (PB), with lawyer Winston Garcia, a Lito Osmeña ally, first acting as a vociferous fiscalizer. Realizing he didn't have the number to make a difference in PB decisions, Garcia ended up

I later handled the Metro section of The Freeman and boldly ventured into column writing. I was pulled out of the Capitol beat but still found time to visit the Capitol. I bumped into Magpale in the lobby in one of those visits. We talked about one of the articles I wrote.

Magpale professed concern with the plight of the less privileged, which was among the subjects of my column. I tried to look for telltale signs of politicking in that claim but found nothing.

*** There's drama in the vice gubernatorial race in the 2013 elections, with One Cebu gubernatorial bet getting Boboy Durano as his running mate and Liberal Party candidate for governor picking Boboy's cousin Agnes Magpale as partner. It's a competition, no doubt, but one wherein the Durano clan would be the clear winner.