MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 02 May) - Bukidnon's legendary governor, Carlos Ozamiz "Totoy" Fortich opted to retire on February 2, 2001, a few months before his third term ended, reportedly to bolster Vice Governor Nemesio Beltran's political stock for the polls that year. Fortich was also preparing to run for mayor of Valencia City, and many thought he already had victory in hand even before the battle could begin. 

However, the two (now both deceased) lost in the 2001 polls, Fortich to a neophyte, retired police colonel Jose Galario Jr., and Beltran to former congressman and sugar baron Jose Maria R. Zubiri Jr., his patron when he first ran for vice governor in 1992. The outcome cemented Zubiri's reputation as a kingmaker and signaled the rise of another dynasty.