One of the biggest surprises in local politics is the entry of lawyer Esther Patrisha “Trisha” Chatto into the political arena.
Several observers were quite surprised upon learning that the daughter of Cong. Edgar Chatto and Balilihan mayor Pureza Chatto, filed her certificate of candidacy (CoC) for vice mayoral post making her, her mother’s running mate in the 2022 polls.
It can now be told that Trisha is the choice for vice mayor of the political group headed by Mayor Chatto. The lady lawyer has been chosen by the leaders of the group as the capable and winnable candidate to run as vice mayor of Balilihan town.
In an exclusive interview on Oct. 9, 2021, Mayor Chatto explained the selection process for the candidates that will be included in the slate of Padayon Balilihan.
Padayon Balilihan is the local group headed by Mayor Chatto.
The consultation process spanned for almost 2 months involving around 400 political leaders from the 31 barangays of Balilihan, the mayor bared.
Mayor Chatto added that these leaders were consulted on who should be included in the slate. The top 16 names were shortlisted, which included the names of incumbent officials and those who are on their last term.
The names in the shortlist were again ranked by the leaders to get the top vote getters who will comprise the slate of 8 candidates for the position of councilors, 1 bet for vice mayor and 1 aspirant for mayor.
The mayor said the leaders were asked which possible candidates have the capacity to lead and those with a huge chance to win in an election.
It turned out that based on the decision of the political leaders aligned with Mayor Chatto, Trisha is the popular choice to run as vice mayor.
According to reports, as of press time, Mayor Pureza Chatto will be up against incumbent Vice Mayor Roy Olalo while Trisha Chatto is facing Jomar Unabia for the vice mayor’s seat in the town of Balilihan.
SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Mayor Chatto wants to set the record straight regarding the candidacy of her daughter.
She clarified that Trisha initially had no intentions to run for public office.
“Akong klarohon nga si Trisha dili gyud na ang iyang intensyon [to run for public oftice]. Kapila gyud sya nagpadayag kun naa pay laing pwedeng mudagan ug vice mayor pwede ra mo slide siya to kagawad, or willing [si Trisha] nga dili modagan ug musuporta lang sa grupo. But kon mao gyud ni ang gusto [sa grupo] ug tan-aw nga maoy makapalig-on sa grupo mao nga iyang gidawat [nga mahimong kandidato sa pagka vice mayor],” Mayor Chatto said in the interview.
Mayor Chatto emphasized that while her daughter is doing her work in Balilihan, she also became visible to the people of the town. Trisha has been helping her parents in their tasks especially in public service.
Trisha, Mayor Chatto said, never thought that she would be considered, let alone be chosen by the leaders to run for vice mayor.
After the 400 leaders bared their choice for vice mayor, which is Trisha, Mayor Chatto said members of the core leaders numbering around 90 persons, were consulted.
The members of the core group were asked if they are bent on choosing Trisha as the group’s vice mayoralty bet.
In the end, the core group ratified the choice of the larger group, which is to tap Trisha as the bet for vice mayor, Mayor Chatto said.
Mayor Chatto revealed that she thanks Trisha for accepting the challenge. The mayor believes her daughter has plenty to offer to the constituents of Balilihan being a lady lawyer.
Mayor Chatto said it would be great to have a lawyer to lead the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) if Trisha wins in next year’s election.
“Importante nga adunay lawyer sa Sangguniang Bayan,” Mayor Chatto relayed to The Bohol Tribune.
MEMBERS OF PADAYON BALILIHAN
The rest of the members of Mayor Chatto’s slate known as Padayon Balilihan are reelectionist councilors Edgar Asilo, Jun Baliong, Bernie Lansang, and Dodong Libatona. They are joined by Liga ng mga Barangay-Balilihan chapter president Nick Ale, Mayan Chatto, Jun Pabe and Stephen Racho.
They are all running for seats in the Sangguniang Bayan of Balilihan.
Meanwhile, in the case of Sanggunuang Kabataan-Balilihan president Archie Cassanova, Mayor Chatto simply explained that the former was cut from the shortlist following the consultation process.
Mayor Chatto told Cassanova that the leaders have decided against his inclusion in the ticket.As a result, Cassanova filed his CoC for town councilor, not under the Padayon Balilihan slate of Mayor Chatto but as an independent candidate. Based on the exclusive interview between Cassanova and Bohol Tribune’s Ardy Araneta -Batoy, the former said that as an independent candidate, he will be supporting Pureza Chatto and Trisha Chatto’s candidacy.