Butuan City Mayor Retiring from Politics

It was official Mayor Democrito D. Plaza II will not be running in 2010 and bids goodbye to politics.

A swift call to gather Lakas-Kampi-CMD leaders early this week was made in time for Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio’s visit here in the city.

When Mayor Democrito “Boy Daku” Plaza proclaimed his wife Daisy to be the Lakas-Kampi-CMD Mayoralty candidate for Butuan in May 2010 elections, it didn’t come as a surprise from everyone present in the FSUU gym during the assembly.

For health reasons, Mayor Plaza has to end his political career and pass on the political mandate to Daisy B. Plaza who once served as the Mayor for 1 term in 2004 naming her as the First Woman Mayor of Butuan.

Boy Daku served Butuan from 1992 until 2000 and in 2001 until 2003. He was re-elected in 2007 elections. Had it not been for his failing health, Boy Daku will continue to field his candidacy in May 2010.

In his first appearance to public for this year in a scheduled Mayor’s Forum in March after several months of confinement at St. Luke’s Hospital in Manila, Mayor Democrito D. Plaza II announced he may have kidney ailment, aneurism and underwent angioplasty, but he remains strong and capable for running in 2010 elections.

However, several days and months the Mayor continue to battle against his illness and was even confined again for a longer period of time in a hospital in Davao City.

It was only during the Lakas Leaders Assembly on August 19 that an announcement was formally made, of him not running for re-election and endorsed the candidacy of his wife, Ma. Theresa “Daisy” Plaza.

Daisy Plaza who is the current Chairman of the City Tourism Council in a press conference said that the proclamation was not yet official as the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party has yet to convene to approve her candidacy. (photo provided by Franklin Caliguid)