LP still choosing bet for Ilocos Sur special poll

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union, Philippines – President Aquino’s Liberal Party (LP) in Ilocos Sur is now screening local politicians to choose its official candidate for the special congressional poll in the first district set on May 28.

Lawyer Everin Molina, provincial chairman of the Noynoy-Mar Movement Ilocos Sur chapter, said some possible candidates from the ruling party or other winnable bets from the coalition party will be considered. 

In an interview with local mediamen last week, Molina, who is also the deputy administrator of the National Tobacco Administration, said the LP screening committee will select an administration bet for the post vacated by former congressman Ronald Singson.

Singson, son of Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for drug trafficking in Hong Kong. 

Molina, a former Vigan City councilor and one of the country’s outstanding legislators last year, is waiting for the results of the screening if he would be selected among the possible candidates of the ruling party. 

Lawyer Trandy Baterina, LP district chairman and nephew of former congressman Salacnib Baterina, is no longer interested to run in the congressional race because he is now concentrating on his law profession. 

Baterina, a topnotch corporate lawyer, was beaten twice by Ronald Singson in the 2007 and 2010 local elections.

Some political observers, including local journalists, foresee a possible duel between the elder Singson and former provincial board member Efren Rafanan, an ally of former President Joseph Estrada. With Artemio Dumlao