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Rep. Rolex Tupas Suplico grew up almost like a son to his politician-uncle, Niel Tupas, Sr.

“He was so close to me that I regarded him as my eldest son,” Tupas confided more than once, with a gleam of a tear welling in his eyes.

That was foremost in the mind of Tupas in 1995 when he gave Suplico his break in politics by supporting the latter’s bid to get elected as board member of the 5th district of Iloilo, a known Tupas bailiwick.

Three years later, when Tupas was ending his third and final term as congressman, he again showed the special status he accorded his nephew by anointing the latter as his choice to succeed him.

At the time, Tupas’s own son, Niel Jr., had completed his law studies at the University of the Philippines as magna cum laude, and had expressed keen interest in playing the role of successor.

The elder Tupas, however, spurned the political ambition of his own son, telling the latter to give way to cousin Rolex. Afterall, Rolex is family, and nine years isn’t too long a time to wait. The seat will be gladly returned by Rolex upon reaching his term-limit.

That was a decision Governor Niel Tupas, Sr. has come to regret.

That’s because his nephew decided being congressman was too good to be passed on back to his uncle’s side of the fence. Rolex wanted the congressional seat to stay on his side of the family.

And from the time this idea was hatched, Rolex started plotting ways and means to unseat his uncle from his position as governor of Iloilo.

He even took part in planning the infamous Iloilo capitol siege, where the very life of his uncle was placed in extreme danger, just so he could accomplish his evil plot.

The legal debacle that Rolex and his cohorts suffered in their attempt to unseat Tupas by way of two Ombudsman decisions that meted the penalty of dismissal for trumped up charges against him, Board Members Domingo Oso and Celia Capadosa did not discourage them at all.

The Court of Appeals had ruled that the penalty imposed could not be enforced immediately as Tupas, Oso and Capadosa still have the right to appeal the decisions finding them guilty of the trumped up charges.

As a result, the Court of Appeals ordered the DILG and Ombudsman to steer clear of any attempt to force Tupas out of office and carry out the penalty. This paved the way for Tupas to file his bid for a third and final term as governor, something that is unpalatable to Rolex and cohorts.

Knowing that they could not beat Tupas in an election face-to-face, Rolex and cohorts put up Obet Armada as a sacrificial lamb, cannon fodder to be expended without guilt.

In an evil scheme designed to improve his chances of becoming governor without a sweat, Rolex filed his candidacy as vice governor.

It is clear what his intentions are.

If he wins, he will pester the governor, prevent the latter from doing any good in his role as presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, and exhaust the energies of the administration.

At the same time, he will continue to look for garbage to be used as evidence in more trumped up cases against the governor, and hope that in the next three years, they can once again get an adverse ruling against Tupas and bring him down.

Should that happen, then Rolex will become governor by succession.

That is a reward that an ungrateful nephew hardly deserves.

That’s the reason people are going out of their way to campaign for Oso, and make sure Rolex does not deceive voters about his relationship with Tupas.

This movement is gaining force, and confidence is building up that by May 14, 2007, both Rolex and Obet will be part of the political history of Iloilo, has-beens whose real character were betrayed by their own greed and avarice.