Shell-shocked. Stunned. Devastated.
These adjectives accurately describe campaign workers and supporters of the Cua political alliance after it became clear that their three standard bearers would lose their respective bids.
Not only did Governor Joseph Cua got bamboozled by former Mayor Sinforoso Sarmiento Jr. in their matchup for Virac’s top post, Mayor Samuel Laynes and Vice Governor Peter Cua lost by relatively razor-thin margins to their opponents, incumbent Congressman Eulogio Rodriguez and former university president Dr. Patrick Alain T. Azanza.
The fact that PBM Jan Ferdinand Alberto’s ill-advised bid would take away votes from the solon and the Virac mayor did not matter in the congressional race, as Rodriguez posted enough cushion in key towns of Bato, Bagamanoc, Caramoran, Pandan and even the Cua stronghold of San Andres to nip Laynes by less than a thousand votes.
Significantly, TGP Rep. Jose Teves Jr. and his son, Mayor Jose Paolo Teves III, could not deliver the 6,000 votes hoped for by the Laynes camp, presumably due to tactical error.
Azanza’s victory, certainly unexpected by the Cua campaign, ignited speculations that there was something wrong with the way the voting happened, that somehow a glitch in the automated voting system took away a few thousand votes from the vice governor’s total.
This view was probably reinforced by a report on social media claiming that overvotes and undervotes in the Catanduanes elections shaped the outcome of the gubernatorial race.
Indeed, there were 11,680 undervotes tallied by the Miru vote counting machines on May 12, 2025 in the 365 clustered precincts, with the undervotes in each of the 11 towns admittedly greater than the 362 margin of victory.
But a check of election statistics for both the 2025 and 2022 polls shows that the undervote total for the gubernatorial race was considerably greater in the 2022 NLE with 16,600, compared to last week’s 11,680.
As there are no reports that more than ten thousand people were coerced into not casting their votes for any of the candidates for governor, there is no other explanation for the last week’s devastating defeat of the highly confident Cua alliance: a failure to address the issues raised by their opponents.
Azanza, in particular, waged a thorough, uncompromising campaign against his rival, amplifying not only on social media but also through personal interaction with voters the issues of high fuel prices, business monopoly, and the low price of abaca fiber.
The huge price difference between the fuel sold by Powerzone, compared not only to that of Silangan Trading but also to retail prices in the Bicol mainland, resonated with the voters.
Somehow, the Cua campaign’s decision not to face this key issue squarely and consider a reduction in the pump prices probably contributed to the debacle at the polls.
There are also unsubstantiated claims that a shadowy mainland group had offered P40 million to local politicians to rig the elections in their favor. But as to whether someone actually took a bite and there is incontrovertible evidence of the VCM tampering, we do not know.
Now, for the first time in more than two decades, there is no one named Cua holding an elective position in Catanduanes.
For the first time, the campaign increasingly targeted the young segment of the electorate that comprises 60 percent of voters but also reinforced the need to bring the message right to the doorsteps of their parents.
The next elections in 2028 would probably feature less tarpaulins polluting the environment and noisy jingles disturbing the peace.
Instead, it would be a battle for the hearts and minds of the increasingly tech-savvy electorate who will make their choice based not on cash and other giveaways but the issues that affect their present lives and dreams of their future.