Of the four members of the Amante clan who ran for various posts in Agusan del Norte, only incumbent Governor Angelica Amante-Malba, who ran as representative of the province’s second district, has won.
She beat her own brother, incumbent Rep. John Erlpe Amante, with whom she has had a falling out over the latter’s alleged marital infidelity.
Angelica obtained 120,068 votes against John Erlpe’s 69,623, with 100 percent of the returns already counted by the Commission on Elections.
In the gubernatorial race, Juan Miguel Amante, John Erlpe’s son, was lagging behind Dale Corvera by over 50,000 votes.
Sammy Amante, the siblings’ uncle, was headed for a lopsided loss, trailing Law Fortun by over 100,000 votes in the race for representative of Agusan del Norte’s first district.
Angelica and her uncle ran under the ruling PDP-Laban, and John Erlpe and his son under the Nacionalista Party.
The Amante family’s dominance in Agusan del Norte politics dates back to the Marcos era, when its late patriarch, Edelmiro Amante, twice won as member of the Batasang Pambansa.
In the post-Marcos years, Edelmiro went on to become representative of Agusan del Norte for four terms.
He served as President Fidel V. Ramos’s executive secretary from September 1992 to June 1993. (MindaNews)