San Juan bet bares bribe try

Erick San Juan, who is challenging San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito for the top post in the municipality, claimed the incumbent’s camp has become "panic-stricken and has once again resorted to bribery" in the hope of convincing him to give up the tight fight.

In a press statement, San Juan said surveys made by various television and radio stations have shown him topping the mayoralty race since the start of the campaign period.

"The voting strength of San Juan ranges between 41,000 to 45,000 out of the more than 72,000 registered voters of the said town. The votes gained by the incumbent mayor during the last election, only reached 27,000," he said.

San Juan noted that this was way behind the said figure of votes for him. He added that 60 percent of registered voters will exercise their right of suffrage again this coming election, and this is a great plus for his campaign.

San Juan, a known broadcast-journalist, is running under the ruling party Lakas-CMD.

He alleged the Ejercito camp has offered him P5 million "to abandon the race" and make it, instead, a mere pretense to show the town people that someone is challenging the incumbent mayor."

"I’m indeed challenging them, but unlike their previous contenders, they cannot bribe me with any amount of money. I’m a man of principle and I do not plan to stain my good reputation," San Juan said.

He alleged the Estradas again made an attempt to buy off his candidacy by raising the price to P10 million.

San Juan said the Performance Team of Ejercito have been seen conducting an intense house-to-house campaign.

When reached for comment on the accusations, Ejercito said San Juan "must be hallucinating."

"Anyway, di naman bawal managinip at mangarap," the mayor said, speaking through Elvira Flores, his public information officer. – With Non Alquitran