Still at an impasse?

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

While the national government is mulling over the problem of filling the vacancy left by the truly untimely death of the well-loved and respected Jesse Robredo at the Department of Interior and Local Government, Negros Occidental is also in the grip of a problem involving the selection of the candidate for governor for the ruling party in the 2013 election.

President Benigno Aquino III has several candidates or nominees for the post, but so far, it has remained a guessing game as to who will be the person bold enough, or confident enough, to consider himself capable of filling the shoes of the late DILG secretary.

The President’s Office, however, has assured that the choice will be made soon and will probably be announced before he leaves for a conference in Russia next month. As he did in the case of the vacancy in the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he did meet the deadline for the selection.

What about the case of the United Negros Alliance, whose members also belong the national group called the Nationalist People’s Coalition? The past weeks have been rocked by speculations after the vice governor announced plans to run for the office of the governor that is presently occupied by his fellow party-mate.

To make matters more confusing to the voters of the province, a sudden change in the leadership of the local party was announced, apparently without the knowledge of the incumbent. This had led to what is perceived to be a split among the six congressman of the province who are apparently equally divided in their support for the incumbent and the challenger.

Yesterday was supposed to be the day when the problem was to be resolved at a meeting in Manila with the party’s top leadership, but, afterwards, only a deafening silence could be noted. All that local media could speculate was that the impasse has not yet been resolved and that both contenders are digging in, so another meeting had been advised.

In the meantime, talk has also surfaced that a third party may surface, and maybe this could be the development that could open the eyes of the infighters, and lead them to come to terms, as, divided, they could all fall.*