MALOLOS CITY—Civic organizations in Bulacan are racing against time to revive the old Bulacan United Opposition (BUO) and come up with alternative candidates for the 2013 polls.
This is due to a dearth of candidates in the province as the ruling Liberal Party (LP) forged a coalition with other major parties.
The situation was described by political leaders as “death of democracy” and claimed that it was through maneuverings of Malacañang.
As this developed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the province said the first two days of filing of Certificates of Candidacy (CoC) was “slow” with only one independent candidate challenging incumbent Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado’s re-election bid.
Jose Ray Munsayac of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said he was informed by leaders of civic organization in the province that a meeting was set Tuesday evening to determine possibilities of fielding a slate of local candidates for the 2013 mid-term elections.
“We don’t want a repeat of the 2001 elections,” Munsayac said and recalled that members of the opposition from Bocaue town disagreed with the coalition between Lakas-NUCD-Kampi and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP).
He said that in 2001, the Bulacan United Opposition (BUO) was formed to support then gubernatorial bid of Luz Viado against former Gov. Josie Dela Cruz.
According to Munsayac, current coalition between LP and the National Unity Party in Bulacan has disenfranchised many as incumbent officials will go unchallenged due to the “equity of the incumbent.”
Political old hands here said the coalition between major parties could mean the death of democracy in the province, as it is against the principle of multi-party system which provides more choices to voters.
Others claimed that the coalition at the local levels was engineered by Malacanang in order to secure victory of the senatorial slate under the LP coalition.
They also noted that Malacanang’s political maneuvering is not only happening in Bulacan but in at least 60 other provinces.
As this developed, lawyer Elmo Duque, the provincial election supervisor in Bulacan said only one candidate has so far filed for the gubernatorial race in Bulacan.
Duque identified the candidate as Jaime Almera of Malolos City who filed his CoC on Monday afternoon as an independent candidate.
Other candidates for provincial posts led by Gov. Alvarado are expected to file their CoCs between today (Wednesday) and Friday.
