DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 April) – There are no rallies to grace, just house-to-house and face-to-face interaction with voters and tapok-tapok (small gatherings) with students, jeepney drivers, workers and senior citizens, among others.
This has been the strategy of Maria Victoria “Mags” Maglana, an independent candidate, since the start of the campaign on March 28, as it was in 2022 when she first challenged the Duterte dynasty by running for Representative of the first congressional district.
In 2022, Maglana, a peace and development worker and independent consultant, challenged the reelection bid of Paolo Duterte, former Vice Mayor of Davao City, and eldest son of Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the city mayor for 22 years and President from 2016 to 2022. The Duterte patriarch, presently detained at The Hague in the Netherlands where he is facing charges of crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court, is running for his eighth term as mayor.
Two other candidates are running for District 1 representative: Pastor Janeth Jabines and businessman Rex Labit.
In 2025, Maglana is running not just against one dynasty member but two: Paolo Duterte who is seeking a third term, and Margarita Ignacia “Migs” Nograles whose father Prospero and brother Karlo, had represented the first district for a total of 25 years before Paolo started representing the district in 2019. Paolo’s father, Rodrigo, served in the same post from 1998 to 2001.
Unlike the two dynasty candidates, Maglana cannot afford to mount rallies, have tarpaulin posters and banners posted in strategic areas in the first district’s 54 barangays, or give away thousands of tee-shirts.
She has no money to employ hundreds to distribute her flyers which double as pamaypay (fans) but relies only on volunteers and friends to do the distribution. She has some tarpaulin posters but given the limited resources, these have to be placed in areas where they hopefully will not be removed or covered. But volunteers have noted that several Maglana tarpaulins are being covered by tarpaulins of other candidates.
Among the five candidates for Representative of the 1st district, however, Maglana has been given national and international exposure since she filed her certificate of candidacy in October last year, having been featured by national and international media on Davao City issues and breaking political dynasties.
In the 2022 elections, she was referred to as “dynasty slayer.”
Lean team
The 56-year old Maglana goes to a barangay with a very lean team while another team goes to another area nearby.
A highly sought-after facilitator in national and international conferences and trainings, and consultant of government agencies such as the Department of Interior and Local Governance, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, among others, Maglana’s skills in facilitation and dialogue are evident in her campaign in Barangay Bago Gallera on April 23 and Barangay Talomo on April 24.
She approaches a voter by offering her hand and introducing herself and why she is running for Representative.
Given the limited time for interaction, she talks about proposed legislation that is relevant to whoever she is talking with: a senior citizen, a store owner, a tricycle driver, a mother breastfeeding her infant. She presents snippets of her legislative agenda and consults the person or persons she is conversing with, on what laws they want to be passed. She reminds them they have a right to “maningil” or make their officials accountable.
A senior citizen was surprised when Maglana said there were five candidates for 1st district Representative. She quickly named the four other candidates and laughed, explaining she had been mentioning them in her campaign sorties not just in these two barangays but in the other areas. “Murag ginakampanya pud nako sila” (It’s like I am also campaigning for them), she said.
For most of those she shook hands with, it was their first time to be approached face-to-face by a candidate.
“Mas maayo gyud ni”
“Mas maayo gyud ni,” (It is better this way), Maglana tells residents. She says there is no substitute for being with voters and listening to them, instead of just being seen by them on tarpaulins or television.
She tells them that those who will represent the district should truly represent the sentiments of residents and there is no better way than to converse with them where they are.
Maglana says residents are receptive when she introduces herself as an independent candidate and that her candidacy does not depend on surnames or connections.
At the rally of the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL) on Thursday evening, Mayor Sebastian Duterte acknowledged that most of their candidates are “apo o anak” (grandchildren or children) of previously elected officials, as can be gleaned from their surnames.
In the interiors of the barangay, Mags realized she does not need a barangay or sitio leader to guide. The residents she talks to, guide her where to proceed. “Dinha agi kay daghan pa tao didto sa unahan”(Pass that way because there are more residents there).
Too often, “ayuda” (assistance) crops up in the conversations, with residents saying “ayuda” is not for all as some of them received while others did not; that one should accept the “ayuda” but vote their own choice, and that “ayuda” is “ato-a man nang kwarta” (our money).
Empowering campaign experience
“I think we can objectively say na may mga lugar kaming napuntahan na narating ng posters lang ng ibang kandidato kasi nga (that there are areas we reached that were reached only by posters of the other candidates because) they have the money and the machinery and can afford to display campaign materials all over. But what we are offering is a positive and empowering campaign experience, one that will hopefully remind the voters of the district what elections are supposed to be about,” Maglana told MindaNews on Sunday.
When she filed her certificate of candidacy on October 8, 2024, Maglana pointed out that the 2025 election was “shaping up to be a battle of Davao’s elite families and a proxy war.”
She said that on the surface, it seemed like a fight between the Duterte camp and the camp of Nogralels, Garcia and Lopez, but “alam din natin na ang political reconfigurations na nagaganap ay paghahanda sa showdown ng mga Duterte at Marcos sa 2028” (we know that the political reconfigurations that are happening are in preparation for the showdown between Duterte and Marcos in 2028).
With these elite families fighting for themselves and to gain a larger slice of the pollical-economic-social standing pie, “who will look out for the people of Davao?” The people themselves, she said.
“Let those of us who are able, have a vision, and the courage to try and truly change things based on that which will bring common good to the many stand and magsama-sama. Huwag na tayong magpagamit, biyakin na natin ang ating mga (come together. Let us not allow ourselves to be used, let us break our) political glass ceilings. Let a new generation of leaders, mga babae at lalaki (women and men) —supported and held accountable by women and men citizens of diverse age, ethnicity, abilities, and orientations—lead us as we work on the Davao, on the Philippines, of the 21st century,” she said.
Support for the state of the possible
Maglana said supporting her candidacy is a support “for the state of the possible: a more empowered taga-Distrito Uno, a better Davao, and a more democratic Philippines.”
In her flyers that serve as fans, Mags reiterated and reinforced her 2022 campaign pitch but spelling out MAGS this time as May Katakus ug Kaalam (Competent and Knowledgeable), Andam Moserbisyo, Maminaw, ug Mamuno (willing to serve, listen, and lead), Ginabarugan ang katungod sa katawhan (Stand up for human rights), and Sinaligan sa Batakan ug Bulnerableng Sektor (Trusted by the basic and vulnerable sectors).
According to her campaign material, Maglana is an expert on local governance, advocacy and policy development and ”wala nagsalig sa apelyido o koneksyon” (does not depend on family names or connections); that even without a government position, she has been consistently working for over 40 years on ensuring good governance and democracy; that she has been consistent as well in her stand against corruption and political dynasties and other important issues; and that she believes in empowering women, youth, LGBTQIA, Lumad, Moro, workers, farmers and others.
Her platform as a candidate or her 5Ms, covers not just lawmaking but the other roles of a Representative — oversight, advocacy and constituency-building: “malahutayong paglambo sa Davao, maayong kalidad sa kinabuhi, maligdong nga panggamhanan, makanunayong pagdepensea sa kinaiyahan, malinawong katilingban” (sustainable development for Davao, good quality of life, good governance, consistent defense of environment, peaceful society).
These are in preparation not just for the next three years but for the city’s centennial 12 years from now. She recognizes that partnerships with the private sector are important to provide more economic opportunities and support for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses. She said it is important to provide solutions to persistent problems of floods, traffic, lack of transportation, demolition, the need to improve the educational system, better wages for workers, safe spaces and more services for vulnerable women, children, seniors and LGBTQIA. Part of her platform is to fight corruption and political dynasties, to push for reforms in the party-list system that is being currently abused by political dynasties, and to ensure regular consultations with constituents. Maglana’s platform also includes ensuring better preparations for disasters, pushing for renewable energy, sustainable transport, waste management, green spaces, air quality and freshwater quality in the city and pushing for laws on transitional justice for victims of human rights violations. She also proposes the teaching of history of the Bangsamoro , Lumad, local, and Mindanao in schools and through mass and social media; and to strengthen peace including resumption of peace talks that would involve communities, and teaching and observing respect for human rights. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
