P’sinan pols to endorse common candidate

CALASIAO, Pangasinan — Despite their different political affiliations, Pangasinan mayors have banded together to field a common presidential candidate in the 2004 elections.

Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, spokesman of Biskeg na Pangasinan (Strength of Panga-sinan) composed of mayors, provincial board members, the province’s congressmen, himself and Gov. Victor Agbayani, told The STAR that the group’s board of directors met Tuesday night in a hotel here and agreed on this matter.

Lambino, acting provincial chairman of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), said this shows how united leaders in the province are.

Sto. Tomas Mayor Antonio Villar Jr., founding chairman of Biskeg, said their choice of presidential candidate will be based on the group’s consensus.

He said they will officially announce their choice at a proper time, perhaps after the filing of certificates of candidacy on Jan. 2.

"The primary consideration is who could best help the mayors and their constituents," he said.

Mayors from the fifth district of Pangasinan are upbeat about the announcement of Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico Jr., president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, that the administration party will not field mayoralty candidates in their district and will instead adopt re-electionists from other parties.

The fifth district includes Urdaneta City and the towns of Villasis, Sto. Tomas, Alcala, Bautista, Pozorrubio, Sison, Binalonan and Laoac.

Villasis Mayor Nato Abrenica, who was present when Guico made the announcement during the Urdaneta City fiesta celebration last Saturday night, said, "That was the best announcement we’ve ever heard from no less than the presidential cousin."

The fifth district congressman is Rep. Mark Cojuangco, son of former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco, founding chairman of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

Villar is an independent but is aligned with the Cojuangcos, while Guico belongs to Lakas-CMD. The rest of the mayors belongs to the NPC.

Meanwhile, Sta. Barbara Mayor Carlito Zaplan, former president of the Pangasinan Mayors’ League who was present in Tuesday night’s meeting, said the group’s decision to support a common presidential candidate is something new in the history of Pangasinan politics.

Malasiqui Mayor Alfonso Soriano, executive vice president of the mayors’ league, said that with this move, it’s really "all for one, one for all" for local political leaders.

Fifth district provincial board member Dionisio Villar Jr. said that with this development, Pangasinan is on the right track.

With more than one million votes from Pangasinan, he said the unity shown by local leaders is something to reckon with.

Right now, Lambino is distributing Biskeg membership forms to leaders in the various towns after the board decided to open the group to local officials who might want to join.

He, however, said new members will be accepted based on criteria that the group will set.

Among those who have announced their presidential bids, three consider themselves from Pangasinan, namely, President Arroyo, whose mother hailed from Bina-lonan town; actor Fernando Poe Jr., whose father was from San Carlos City; and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, whose wife is from Bolinao town.