Metro Manila, Philippines – A neophyte politician and an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte defeated re-electionist Gwen Garcia in the Cebu gubernatorial race, ending decades of family influence in the vote-rich province.
Poll officials proclaimed Pam Baricuatro of PDP Laban as governor on Tuesday, May 13, more than 1.1 million votes.
Baricuatro said she was appointed as a board director for Landbank Resource Development Corp. during the Duterte administration.
In videos posted on her Facebook page, the governor-elect said her campaign platforms include good governance and addressing poverty and health care problems.
Early on in the campaign, Garcia hopped from town to town with some administration-backed senatorial candidates, while Baricuatro deferred holding campaign activities to celebrate Duterte’s 80th birthday.
Garcia also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Agriculture to sell P20 per kilogram of rice in the province, a day before the 10-day election spending ban.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. backed Garcia’s candidacy even amid a preventive suspension.
In late April, the Ombudsman issued a preventive suspension order against Garcia for a special permit she granted to Shalom Construction Inc. in May 2024. The permit was allegedly issued despite the company’s lack of mandatory clearances from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
