Padaca files COC for governor

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines – Former governor Grace Padaca yesterday sought to reclaim her seat as governor of the province of Isabela in filing her certificate of candidacy as an independent.

Padaca arrived unnoticed at the provincial office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) accompanied by her mother, brother Carlito, her two nephews and secretary Bing Franco in filing her COC before Provincial Elections Supervisor Manuel Castillo at 2:45 p.m.

The former governor and erstwhile Comelec commissioner lamented the Liberal Party had abandoned her for political turncoats.

Last Wednesday, the Office of the Ombudsman recommended Pa-
daca for indictment over her alleged failure to submit her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth during her term as governor of Isabela.

Padaca said the indictment was swift and had been timed to coincide with the filing of COC for the 2016 elections.

Padaca ended four decades of political rule by the family of Faustino Dy Jr., whom she defeated in the 2004 elections.

After two terms, Padaca was defeated by the incumbent Faustino Dy III whom she faces for the second time in her attempt to reclaim the gubernatorial post.

Meanwhile, three relatives of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad will slug it out in the lone congressional district of Batanes.

Incumbent Rep. Henedina Abad was the first to file COC on Monday along with Alexius Narag, former Batanes state prosecutor and nephew of the Abads.

Nicanor Abad, elder brother of the budget secretary, filed his COC under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) yesterday.

The elder Abad, a retired engineer in the US, returned home to seek a congressional seat “as an alternative Abad in Congress.” – With Jack Castano