By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Nothing can bring much sadness and pain for parents than to see their children engaged in a bitter quarrel.
And the pain can be more excruciating if the donnybrook goes outside the domicile and reverberates in public in heart-breaking proportion.
This could be the predicament former Iloilo Gov. Neil D. Tupas Sr. and former Barotac Viejo Mayor Myrna Causing Tupas are in today.
The squabble of their sons--Iloilo 5th district Rep. Neil "Junjun" Tupas Jr. and Iloilo Vice Gov. Raul "Boboy" Tupas--has hogged headlines these past months and divided the hitherto formidable Tupas political empire in the fifth congressional district of Iloilo.
Boboy wants to replace Junjun, who is graduating for his third and last term in the House of Representatives.
WIFE
Junjun, however, is pushing for his wife, Yvonne Angeli Lee-Tupas.
The feud resulted in Boboy leaving the Liberal Party (LP) and embracing the National People's Coalition (NPC).
It was Junjun who insisted that his wife, a lawyer like him, fits in the congressional portfolio, not Boboy, who is a Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduate.
Because he is the eldest son in the family and carries the name of his father, what Junjun wanted Junjun reportedly got.
The decision to field Yvonne Angeli as official LP candidate has been reportedly given imprimatur by the Tupas patriarch to Boboy's consternation.
As a consolation, "majority" of the Tupas children reportedly back Boboy but could not openly defy "Tatay Neil" so as not to douse gasoline into the conflagration.
ENDORSE
Buoyed by his father's go signal to endorse Yvonne Angeli, Junjun has been reportedly "making life difficult" for his younger brother by "excluding" the vice governor in various public activities related to his function as capitol's no. 2 official.
Boboy's supporters viewed Junjun's moves as "a bid to cripple the vice governor's enthusiasm" to pursue his congressional bid.
Unperturbed, Boboy continued to sally forth in the entire district and focused on consultation with his constituents about his plans in 2016 sans approval from the political party he jettisoned.
Junjun denied he was trying to act as Cain, a jealous murderer of his brother, Abel, in the Bible's Old Testament.
Although their hearts are all for Boboy, other Tupas children can't look manong Junjun in the eyes and tell him straight that "blood should be thicker than water." At least not yet.
Efforts to patch up the feud has become increasingly difficult as Junjun and Boboy continued to swap heavy accusations in the media before the filing of the Certificate of Official Candidacy for the 2016 elections.
STRONG
While Boboy was showing strong determination to run against his own sister-in-law, Yvonne Angeli, LP's would-be official candidate, Junjun was stepping up his determination to oppose him.
Amid all the hullabaloo, their parents have remained calm and sober although sources said "they are in pain emotionally."
"It is a common knowledge in Barotac (Viejo, their hometown) that Boboy is well-loved by his brothers and sister (Tweety Tupas-Balleza), most especially by his nanay, Nonoy Myrna," said a source who refused to be named because she is not authorized to speak about the family's political affairs.
"Anywhere you go, it is Boboy who is closer to the hearts of the people. If you open the heart of Nonoy Myrna, you will see the name of Boboy Tupas in all caps there. Nonoy Myrna has been crying privately because she does not want to see both his sons hurting only because of politics."
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