Did Defensor and Garin hook up to stymie Biron?

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Man is by nature a political animal.” – Aristotle

EVEN if they wanted to, members of the Garin political clan in the first district of Iloilo can’t go against Iloilo Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. in the 2025 midterm elections.

Instead of fielding a candidate to oppose Defensor Jr. in the gubernatorial contest, they might as well join and support him since he is now on his second term and will shoot for his third and last term.

And join Defensor Jr. they did.

They will have to take a step backward in 2025 but mount two steps forward in 2028 if they really aspire to take the capitol—when Defensor Jr. is no longer there.

The Garin family is aware it’s too risky at this moment to expedite the capitol invasion while Pompey the Great is at the helm of power—unless they have a Julius Caesar, the only man who could topple Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus also known as Pompey the Great in real history.

Oscar “Richard” Garin Jr., mayor of Miag-ao, Iloilo, is not Julius Caesar. He can never be one.

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The rest of the Garin political clan members—Vice Governor Christine “Tingting”, San Joaquin Mayor Ninfa (the matriarch), Rep. Janette, Energy Undersecretary Sharon, Guimbal Mayor Jennifer—also aren’t Nefertiti, Cleopatra, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Catherine the Great, and Hatshepsut who could bring down the curtains on Defensor Jr.

Even if they are, Pompey the Great a.k.a. Toto Defensor Jr. is expected to demolish anyone of the Garin fighting ladies in the 2025 gubernatorial race.

Defensor Jr.’s ruthlessness when he declawed the more deadly Rep. Ferjenel “Dr. Ferj” Biron in the May 13, 2019 gubernatorial election must still be fresh in the memories of the Garins.

Defensor Jr. repulsed Biron in the 2019 “Sertorian War”; tortured independent candidate Nolbert Gil by a mile in the 2022 “Third Servile War”; and is expected to shut down a still unnamed opponent in the 2025 “Third Mithridatic War.” He was on the roll and unbeatable.

It appears now that like the historical Pompey the Great forming an alliance with Marcus Licinius Crassus, Defensor Jr. has agreed to collaborate with Garin Jr. in the 2025 midterm elections or the “Third Mithridatic War.”

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Did they enter into a concordat and hooked up to stymie whatever plans for 2025 being worked out by the muted Biron political clan? Possible.

Did Defensor Jr. and Garin Jr. agree to scratch each other’s back in 2025 and 2028 (support Defensor Jr. in 2025 and support a Garin bet for governor in 2028)? No one knows.

But they must be warned not to underestimate the Birons which boast of a hushed clan member with the intelligence and skills of the dreaded Julius Caesar: Braeden John Q. Biron.

Braeden John is the mayor of Dumangas and has the potential of rising to the top when no one is looking to become a future governor.

In history, Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar had supposedly formed the unofficial political alliance known as the First Triumvirate.

In Iloilo, Pompey and Crassus had forged ahead with a political alliance minus Caesar.

When Crassus was killed after being enticed to parlay with Surenas, and his head and hand were sent to Orodes II, it must be remembered that it was Caesar who bowdlerized Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus.

In the end, Caesar was the lone man standing of the three political kings in the First Triumvirate.

Iloilo has a very interesting and exciting political development coming up.

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BEING overweight shouldn’t be a reason for anyone to feel insecure; it shouldn’t be either a source of bullying and shabby treatment from the “lighter” individuals in our society.

There have been reports in the Philippines that some jeepney and taxi drivers refuse to take passengers who “occupy two seats” per body because of their “over” weight or “big” size.

We have guidelines and even laws against discrimination and our “heavier” friends in this subject matter should be equally covered and protected by these guidelines and laws.

The bottom line is we should never underestimate anyone based on his size, height, weight and other factors that don’t endanger the lives of others.

In fact, the old expression “Laugh and grow fat” leads many to believe that fat people are always happy.

One reason for this saying may be that the extra fatty tissue under their skin makes their frowns and worry lines less noticeable.

Ashley Benson said, “People will make mean comments. People are going to say that you’re fat, that you’re this, that you’re that. You just have to be comfortable in your own skin.”

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But psychologists claim that overweight people are usually far from happy. So let us not add to their “burden” by being truculent toward their “extra baggage.”

Experts are saying that sometimes the glands or chemical make-up of the body need medical attention. Or excess weight may be due to upset emotions caused by a lack of love, a feeling of not being wanted, or some frustration.

Another popular (or unpopular?) saying is, “Fat people are lazy.”

But we know now that laziness affects fat and thin alike. A fleshy person appears lazy because his movements are slowed up by the weight he carries.

Hundreds of seemingly lazy people, both thin and fat, have been cured when fitted with the proper eye-glasses, it was learned.

Others have gained energy after they have had medical care like someone I personally know who has been frequently playing chess in the Elmhurst park here “despite” his condition.

A third fallacy in regard to fat people is that there are more fat boys than girls. Statistics, however, show the number is about equal.

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Eight years ago, a unanimous Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention determined that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) expansive South China Sea maritime claims are inconsistent with international law.

In its ruling, the Tribunal firmly rejected any PRC territorial or maritime claim to areas determined by the Tribunal to be part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

As provided under the Convention, the 2016 arbitral decision is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines.

Over the past year, the PRC’s use of water cannons, dangerous maneuvers, and destructive tactics – including ramming, forcible towing, and boarding that has resulted in damage to Philippine vessels and injury to Philippine service members – has routinely interfered with the lawful exercise of high seas freedoms in areas where the Arbitral Tribunal determined the PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claims.

The PRC’s actions reflect a blatant disregard for international law as well as the safety and livelihoods of Filipinos.

The United States remains deeply concerned about the PRC’s assertion of “territorial sovereignty” over vast areas that are clearly within the maritime jurisdiction of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei, and where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply under international law.

Upholding the international law of the sea, as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, is in the interest of the entire international community and remains vital to the peace, security, and prosperity of all nations.

“We continue to call on the PRC to abide by the 2016 arbitral ruling, to cease its dangerous and destabilizing conduct, and to comport its conduct as well as its territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea to the international law of the sea as reflected in the Convention,” the U.S. Department of State said in a statement.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)