Or was it the other way around when former Carmen Mayor Conchita “Che” Toribio Delos Reyes, together with 15 Bohol mayors, sought an audience with Vice-President Jejomar Binay in Makati last Tuesday? Whatever was the purpose of the mayors' whirlwind appearance at the vice-president's palatial residence, the meeting between Binay and Che's mayor companions has sent political shockwaves on the spines of Gov. Edgar M. Chatto and his trusted lieutenant, provincial administrator Ae Damalerio. Call it a high-level chitchat with Binay or an ordinary pep talk with the vice-president, but just the same, last Wednesday's date has sparked a new political battleground in the run-up to the 2016 Bohol polls.

The politically-inspired meeting became ubiquitous to the Boholano community after Che herself, through her Facebook account, scattered pictures of herself, the 15 Bohol mayors, and wait, Second District Rep. Aris Aumentado, sitting with Binay, as if they were knights in shining armor congregating around King Arthur's mystical round table. So if a picture can paint a thousand words, that one digital image made open to world view where Binay was the centerpiece of attraction could be deemed as an opening salvo to the protracted war between Delos Reyes and Chatto, who will seek his last term as governor in 2016, while his tormentor, the former mayor of Carmen town who makes a heap of fortunes out of beauty products being sold worldwide, would try to unseat him for the second time. With the backing of ex-city Mayor Dan Lim, Delos Reyes in the 2013 elections had lost badly to Chatto by as many as 200,000 votes, considered the biggest margin of loss in any provincial elections in the past.

Despite the debacle, Delos Reyes, at a press conference early this year, had announced that she had mustered enough courage to rise from defeat, saying she would challenge Chatto again in the 2016 elections. In that case, it would be a two-cornered fight in the gubernatorial combat, leaving Third District Rep. Art Yap a mere spectator as he continues to enjoy a strong political command in the third district towns of Bohol. After her fiery announcement that she would run in 2016 as governor, Che went into hiatus again, although she was often reported travelling abroad pitching his beauty products to prospective customers. The next time she emerged out of her cocoon, Che was already accompanied with 15 Bohol mayors and one congressman from the second district of the province. This time with Binay, who is all set to run as president of the republic less than two years from now. But it was not the first time Che played host to Bohol officials. Earlier, at a national convention of town councilors in Manila, the former political queen of Carmen town had made each Bohol kagawad P3,000 richer after the PCL convention.

Meanwhile, the Bohol mayors were reportedly on their way to attend the 2014 Visayas Island Cluster Conference of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) on Sept. 9, 2014 at the Oxford Hotel in Clark Free Zone in Pampanga. But upon arrival at NAIA airport, 15 Bohol mayors, allegedly at the invitation of kingmaker Che, made a pre-meditated detour and paid a courtesy call on Binay at his posh Makati residence. The other mayors, considered faithful soldiers of Pres. Aquino's Liberal Party, were shepherded by Loon Mayor Lloyd Peter Lopez, anointed president of LMP-Bohol Chapter. Those who “flirted” with Binay were the mayors of Pilar, Guindulman, Jagna, Loay, Mabini, Danao, Corella, Maribojoc, Batuan, San Miguel, Buenavista, Pres. Garcia (Pitogo), Tubigon, Getafe, Bien Unido, and Panglao.

Reports reaching the Bohol Sunday Post indicated that the 15 mayors were P20,000 richer each after emerging from Binay's office. But it was unclear whether the 15 mayors had received a fat shopping allowance from Che's bottomless pockets. Dan Lim, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found among Binay's “knights in shining armor,” fueling speculations that the former city mayor has been considered an “outcast” of Che's political circle, let alone Binay's political radar. The former city mayor, according to reports, is polishing his image for a return bout in the 2016 elections, which would see the former political kingpin clashing with his own nephew, City Mayor