Aklan guv race getting hotter
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan - The race for governor is actually a four-cornered fight among administration bet Carlito Marquez and opposition candidates Vicky Ramos, Maria Bettina Garcia and Karen Grace Galvan but the latter is not expected to figure prominently in the standings.

Marquez won the governorship in 2004 by beating Ramos, the daughter of the "Father of Aklan." His runningmate lawyer Ronquillo Tolentino, won over lawyer Romeo Inocencio, the runningmate of Ramos.

The Marquezes and Miraflores camps, this year, are seeking to consolidate power in the province by endorsing the reelection of seven mayors aligned with the ruling administration coalition Tibyog Akean.
Six “graduating” mayors of Tibyog Akean had endorsed the united leadership of Miraflores-Marquez-Tolentino.

Florencio Miraflores (Kampi), the three-termer governor from 1998 to 2001, is running for re-election as congressman in the lone district of Aklan against neophyte lawyer Anthony Acevedo (PMP-Uno) while his wife Lourdes Martin-Miraflores is seeking the mayoral seat against incumbent Ibajay Roberto Garcia Jr (PDP Laban).
Tibyog Akean and the Team Unity local candidates held their miting de abanse (political rally) on Monday night attended by Tibyog Akean founder and former Aklan Rep. Allen S. Quimpo.

The enmity between the two families - Miraflores and Garcia goes back last year when banker Mobo-Garcia announced her availability to oppose Marquez, the running mate of Miraflores in Tibyog Akean.

In 2004, the ruling Tibyog Akean supported the candidacy of Garcia as mayor in the town of Ibajay. To test the leadership of Miraflores in Tibyog Akean in this crucial May polls, the congressman fielded his wife to challenge the mayor Garcia, his nephew.
Ramos is running under the United Opposition (Uno) in tandem with former Aklan solon Gabrielle Calizo, who is seeking the vice gubernatorial post against Tolentino.