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.
