(Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 19, 2007, p. A18.)
THE PATRIARCH OF THE RULING ESPINA clan in Biliran suffered a stinging defeat in the hands of a political neophyte during the May 14 elections.
Gerardo S. Espina Sr., 72, had served three consecutive terms as congressman of the province’s lone district from 1995 to 2004. In his last term, he served as chair of the powerful Commission on Appointments.
Espina tried to recover his post as a candidate of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) after a transitory term as mayor of the capital town of Naval. Instead, he was soundly beaten by an articulate lawyer who is even younger than his 36-year-old youngest child, Biliran Rep. Gerardo J. Espina Jr.
Lawyer Glenn A. Chong, 32, of the Liberal Party (LP), garnered a total of 36,097 votes while Espina got 30,356, for a winning margin of 5,741. He was proclaimed winner of the congressional contest by the provincial Commission on Elections on Wednesday afternoon [May 16].
Chong is the scion of a Chinese-Filipino family that runs a chain of business establishments, including a construction firm and the biggest grocery in Biliran.
An honor student during his elementary and high school years, Chong is also a certified public accountant. He graduated cum laude from the College of Law of the University of San Carlos in Cebu. As a law student, he had won prizes in writing and public speaking contests.
Only loser
Espina Sr. was the only loser among the four Espina family members who ran for different positions.
Dr. Rogelio J. Espina (Lakas-CMD), was reelected governor with 43,007 votes, beating lawyer Ruben L. Almadro of LP, who garnered only 19,415.
The governor’s twin brother, Rodolfo J. Espina, of Kampi was reelected mayor of Kawayan town. Their sister, Roselyn Espina-Paras (Kampi) was reelected councilor of Naval.
Congressman Espina Jr. gave way to his father and did not run for any position.
Although only the patriarch lost in the election, the Espina family lost two politically strategic positions — congressman of Biliran and mayor of Naval.
The mayoral contest in Naval was won by Susan Velasquez-Parilla, widow of the late former Gov. Danilo Parilla who was assassinated in Cebu City last year. She won over Brigido Caneja III, a long-time Espina ally.
Parilla is the only child of former Naval Mayor Arturo Velasquez and former Naval Vice Mayor Catalina Velasquez.
The Espina dynasty was relatively secure in their rule until September 7 last year. That day, former Governor Parilla, who nearly defeated Espina Sr. in the 2004 mayoral election, was killed by a known Espina bodyguard as he was disembarking from a boat at the Cebu pier.
The suspect, Gene Corpin, is now in jail. The case is now on trial at a Cebu court.
A murder undid it
The murder enraged Biliranons from all walks of life and produced a social movement that was determined to resist the Espinas — the local version of the anti-Marcos movement in the wake of the Aquino assassination in 1983, but this time with better communication channels and facilities.
A nebulous group called the Konsensya, supported by volunteer efforts and contributions locally and from expatriate Biliranons, started communicating with each other mostly through cellular phones, text messaging, and e-mails, blogs and websites in the Internet. They began to chronicle and expose the alleged excesses, lavish lifestyles and corrupt practices of the Espinas.
The Konsensya members, mostly unidentified and known only by their aliases, poured out their sentiments related to the death of Parilla and their exposés about the Espinas in the blogs section of www.biliranisland.com, in the guestbook of the Hometown Naval website, and in the occasional issues of a newsletter, The Biliran Clarion.
Leader
Chong is a leader and mover of the group and a column writer in the Clarion. He co-anchored, with three other members, an anti-Espina radio program in the local Radyo Natin station and later in a Cebu radio station.
The information generated by the Konsensya, mainly from the Internet, became fodder for the opposition candidates during their campaign rallies in barangays around the province. Most of the charges they raised were virtually ignored by the Espina camp.
Chong was traumatized and politicized by the Parilla assassination, and this made him decide to fight the Espina dynasty. The resolve was shared by many other Konsensya members.
He also started gathering data and documents that led to the filing of cases in the Ombudsman-Visayas against certain members of the Espina family. The cases included two against Governor Espina — one for alleged overpricing of still unused hospital equipment and the other for an allegedly “ghost” hospital worth P21 million.
When the election season came, Chong became the logical nominee of the local opposition to run for congressman, a challenge that he accepted. The rest is history.