Relampagos, Yap tandem shaping up?
TAGBILARAN CITY — Election fever has started to heat up here in Bohol province, with 3rd district Representative Arthur Yap initially announcing that running for governor in the 2019 mid-term elections is one of his options.
Yap later also told Bohol media that he is willing to run as vicegovernor of 1st district Rep. Rene Relampagos. Incidentally, the two are serving their third and last term as congressmen.
“I’m willing to be his (Relampagos’sF vice-governor,” Yap answered when asked about his political linkage with Relampagos. He also praised the latter, saying: “In all humility, he is an excellent leader. He is one of our youngest governors.”
“To be very, very honest, I feel uneasy and embarrass to say that I am considering him to be my vicegovernor,” Yap said of Relampagos. "I will reverse it. I am willing to be his vice-governor."
Another rumored future direction for Yap is to be given a Cabinet position under the Duterte administration, but Yap said the possibility is not under his control.
This early, several names have surfaced as possible bets to the position that would be vacated by lasttermer Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto.
Among the names are: Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Toloy” Evasco, Jr., Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell "Baba" Yap, 2nd district Rep. Aris Aumentado, Provincial Administrator Ae Damalerio II, former Carmen town Mayor Che Toribio Delos Reyes, Vice-Governor Dionisio Balite, Balilihan town Mayor Pureza Veloso-Chatto, and a fast-rising political figure from the Lim-Imboy clan.
In the case of the soon-to-be-vacated 3rd district, Yap said he found it difficult to name a person who would take care of ‘his legacy’ in the district, but said the best person is “someone who is willing to sacrifice for the district.”
Yap said that by the time he ends his term as a congressman, he would have delivered at least P3 million worth of projects to each barangay in the 3rd district.
Relampagos, for his part, was elected congressman in the first district in 2010. A vice-governor of Bohol from 1992-1995, he served as governor of the province for six years (two termsF from 1995-2001 until he was defeated by the late 2nd district Rep. Erico Aumentado in the 2001 gubernatorial race.
In 2004 Relampagos staged a rematch with Aumentado but lost again. In 2007, Relampagos ran for congressman in the 2rd district but the father-son Jala tandem defeated him. In 2010, the battle-tested Relampagos ran for congressman in the 1st district and won the seat with ease.