Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte, the former enforcer and battering ram of Pantaleon Alvarez, the deposed leader of the House of Representatives, has quit his candidacy for governor of the province.
Fariñas told reporters he “did not intend to run for any office as I already want to retire from politics after 39 years in public service.
“From Day 1 of the campaign until today, having covered 272 of my district’s 285 barangays, I’ve been announcing in my speeches that I was not running for governor,” he said.
Fariñas’ decision leaves his rival Matthew Marcos Manotoc, son of outgoing governor Imee Marcos, unopposed.
The 67-year-old lawmaker, who filed his withdrawal at the Commission on Elections earlier in the day, said he was not really keen on running for any office in the May 13 mid-term polls.
“I did not really want to run for any office as I want to retire on June 30 after 39 years since I started as Laoag City Mayor on March 3, 1980, at the age of 28,” Fariñas said.
Fariñas did not explain why he had to go from one village to another just to announce that he was not running.
“In fact, I do not have a single campaign poster, nor is my name printed in our sample ballot. I’ve never even gone to the other district of our province.”
Fariñas said he no longer wanted to hold any public office, but he surprised everyone when he filed his certificate of candidacy for governor.
He said he decided to run because of the “broken peace deal” between his clan and the Marcoses under which his daughter Ria was supposed to run for vice governor with former First Lady Imelda Marcos as the standard bearer. The young Fariñas and the Marcos matriarch were supposed to run unopposed.
However, Imee’ s son instead ran for governor and Ria ran for the post of her father in the First District of Ilocos Norte.
Ria is running against Ryan Remigio, a known ally of the Marcoses.
In the current Congress, Fariñas served as Majority Leader under the speakership of Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao. Alvarez was deposed by a great majority of the congressmen and with him fell Fariñas. With PNA