Kaka Bag-ao wins as Dinagat governor, ends Ecleos' rule

Dinagat Islands Representative Arlene "Kaka" Bagao has become Dinagat Islands' new governor after defeating Benglen Ecleo, a member of the Ecleo political family.

Based on the partial and unofficial count coming from the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) transparency server, Bag-ao received 29,869 votes compared to Ecleo's 26,843.

Bag-ao, who ran under the Liberal Party, was proclaimed winner on May 14, a day after the elections.

The Ecleos had been ruling Dinagat Islands even when it was still a town of Surigao del Norte. It only became a province in 2006.

Benglen was the third Ecleo Bag-ao defeated.

In the 2013 elections, Bag-ao won over Benglen's sister, Gwendolyn, for a congressional seat. In her second elections, Bag-ao defeated former Governor Geraldine Ecleo.

A human rights lawyer,  Bag-ao earned the moniker "dragon slayer" for her victories against members of the Ecleo clan. —KBK, GMA News