Ramon Durano, father of the mayor of Danao, who established his family's iron control over the city, was an archetypal provincial warlord complete with a large private army.
"Politics in Cebu is a battle of survival in a very physical sense ... you simply cannot allow yourself to be shot by gangsters," he wrote in his autobiography.
The heavy-handed tactics used to secure votes in the Philippines have become less blatant in recent years but the highly charged atmosphere ahead of next May's election has again stirred the specter of bloodshed.
Opposition politicians have warned of a government-rigged poll, while members of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's camp have described the candidacy of actor Fernando Poe as a desperate bid by the opposition to grab power.
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