* Franco Tito bares plan
* Butchoy Taojo running?
[Pantukan, Davao de Oro] – A new political alliance that includes new non-political figures has started to emerged in Davao de Oro as the six- month-resident regulatory period immediately preceding the day of election on May 12, 2025 nears.
The Mindanao Journal earlier had held a one-on-one talk with former Vice Gubernatorial aspirant Franco Tito following a chance meeting in a downtown mall coffee shop in Davao City. This was followed with a couple more meetings later which primarily centered on Franco Tito’s political comeback.
Tito is known beyond the boundaries of Davao de Oro province for bravely fighting for the interest of hundreds of small scale miners in Diwalwal and nearby barangays where he remains to be their legendary hero. He cast his political fortune in the 2022 regular elections by running for Governor under the banner of Partido Para sa Demokratikong Reforma.
However shortly before the Comelec November 12, 2021 mandate to allow substitutions among candidates Franco Tito was lured by Partido Reforma led by the triumvirate of Congressman Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, Davao del Norte Gov. Edwin Jubahib and oddly by PDP-LABAN Davao de Oro head and District 2 Rep. Ruel Gonzaga to give way for retired Court of Appeals Justice Dorothy “Dotdot” Gonzaga who was also aspiring for governor.
The substitution was a quick one for Dorothy Gonzaga but the documentations in the case of Tito Franco took some time and went all the way up to the national office of the COMELEC. He eventually lost to Tyron Uy in his bid for vice governor.
In his talks with the Mindanao Journal, he said that he holds no rancor against Tyron Uy and his father Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy.
In the last and most recent encounter with the Mindanao Journal he made known his plan to run for Congress in the 1st District of Davao de Oro as an independent candidate.
Franco Tito is resolute with his commitment to push for the rights of small scale miners especially in Davao de Oro, who he said, are being threatened, abused and displaced by corporate mining firms based in Manila. “There ought to be a law that would institutionalize small scale mining operations since hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on it”.
Over the weekend, talks of another popular figure in the province, Noe “Butchoy” Taojo, who is known for his philanthropic deeds, was seen with his lawyer in the office of the Commission on Elections to formally transfer his voter’s registration in Pantukan, Davao de Oro, the base of his mining operations.
‘’Butchoy” Taojo is known for his boundless and countless benevolence to people in dire need of assistance. In a private capacity he too have helped in constructing farm-to-market roads for remote barangays in Pantukan. For his virtues Butchoy is known to many as “the Man with a Golden Heart”.
Unknown to many,moreover, “Butchoy”, who at a very young age joined the throng of hardy men that ventured into small-scale mining during the gold rush period in Monkayo and Pantukan, he also carved a name in California, U.S.A for venturing into wine-making. His loved for Davao de Oro is demonstrated in every bottle of wine that carried the brand of “Napa de Oro”. Napa refers to Napa Valley in California were wine grapes are grown and de Oro refers to Davao de Oro his home province.
The emergence of these new names in the political arena of Davao de Oro is triggered by the lackluster performance of the present leadership in the province under Gov. Dotdot Gonzaga. The resentment stemmed from the failure of delivering electoral promises.
The public discontent even grew further at the height of natural calamities where the private initiatives of former Governor Chiongkee “Papa Gov” Uy in delivering assistance to the victims were more noticeable than those of the agencies of the provincial government. The former governor is spearheading the “Bangon Davao de Oro” movement to rally the constituency of the province to move forward.