This early, Carmen Mayor Conchita “Che” Toribio de los Reyes is one riddle that many people find difficult to solve. Now being bruited as a symbol of change in a province where change is hard to come by, she has wisely played it coy but somehow there is something that makes jaded observers stop and take a long, hard look at her. It seems like the mayor has not wasted time in making her presence felt with the seriousness and sincerity that is hard to come by in the world of Bohol politics. After unseating the incumbent in one of the fiercest local elections in 2010, Reyes went full speed in turning around the economy of the town where the fabled chocolate hills are found. “I want Carmen to be the centerpiece of the Bohol tourism industry,” she declared. Some feathers might be ruffled with that but the lady mayor has a point.

The Chocolate Hills are definitely the most prominent tourist attraction Bohol, more than the tarsiers, the white beaches and the river rides. Toribio has no intention of putting down the other destinations. It is just that she feels that Carmen has not really benefited from the tourism boom especially in terms of the revenue generated by the industry. At the same time, she also wants to thresh things out with national agencies particularly regarding the provisions that prevent the cutting of trees in the hills. The mayor noted that while she is 100-percent supportive of the efforts to protect the hills, she foresees a problem that is a result of the strict implementation of the law. “If you allow the trees to grow indiscriminately, the time will come when the hills will no longer be visible because they have been replaced by forests,” she noted.

Toribio, however, has other pressing things on her list. As this piece was being written, she was at the forefront of a police tracking team going after members of a Carmen-based syndicate engaged in carnapping of motorcyles and “akyat bahay”. The pursuit operations started Friday evening where the team led by Mayor Che engaged the gang in a wild chase starting from Barangay Villarcayo in Carmen all the way to the boundary of her town with Sagbayan. The chase ended with the arrest of one of the gang members and the discovery of the group’s lair in Villarcayo that yielded stolen items like bicycles, motorcycles and mechanical tools, among others. She said the identity of the arrested gang member was withheld pending apprehension of the syndicate leader who slipped past the police dragnet during the operations which ended noontime yesterday. From her own pocket, the mayor offered P20,000 bounty money to serve as motivation for the capture of the syndicate leader.

In retrospect, with the syndicate plying on motorcycle carnapping and burglaries neutralized, the feisty Carmen mayor succeeded in busting the syndicate whose members were recruited from the towns of Carmen, Pilar and Sagbayan. According to the mayor, this was the second syndicate she busted in the last few months in office as a first-term town executive in Carmen. This is one reason why is she getting long, hard looks. Tagbilaran City Mayor Dan Lim describes Toribio as one who personifies new breed of politician which he calls “Ang Bag-ong Bol-anon”. Aside from the political pedigree by virtue of her being a granddaughter of the late Olympic bronze medalist Simeon Toribio who went on to serve as congressman, she has a lot of plus factors. It was Lim who first bruited the idea of the Carmen mayor as a probable gubernatorial timber. The mayor, himself figuring the equation in the group opposed to Gov. Edgar Chatto, said Toribio has the vision, the creativity and the determination to get things done. “We need a leader who leads by example and not just by press release,” Lim said.

The mayor said Toribio’s interest to reclaim Carmen’s post as the tourism capital, her desire to uplift the economic standard of the town and her plan to establish a drug rehabilitation program in the town shows an unusual perspective that deserves a bigger constituency. Toribio is playing it coy with the overture although she admitted that she is flattered by the endorsement for the top post which will make her the first lady governor of Bohol. She broke into uninhibited laughter when asked about the possibility, saying she “is not interested”. Reading between the lines, however, one will realize that there has been no categorical refusal either if “push comes to shove”. With the possibility not entirely out of the equation, her backers now see an open door that could lead to the desired result. No less than second district Rep. Erico Aumentado has bared an open mind, describing the Carmen mayor as “a good material”.

The slippery Aumentado knows whereof he speaks, having made history as the first Bohol governor to serve three successive terms and stepping down undefeated. Cong. Arthur Yap of the third district where Carmen belongs also indicated interest in the mayor’s possible bid for the highest elective post in the province. Yap, who is seeking reelection, understandably wants a shoulder to lean on in the derby for elective provincial officials. After being left out by his circle of friends with former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Yap said that with Toribio looming as a possible candidate for governor, he would no longer be a political orphan. Yap, in fact, was quoted as having encouraged Mayor Che to run for governor. With three heavyweight personalities mesmerized at the prospect of Toribio taking a crack at the gubernatorial contest, the ball is now in her court whether to make a go for it or freeze her luck and stay put as Carmen mayor.