Leyte solon favors brgy polls in Oct

BAYBAY CITY, Philippines - Re-elected Rep. Jose Carlos "Boying" Cari (5th district of Leyte) said he is not against the barangay elections pushing through on October because elections are necessary to confirm if leaders are still effective in what they are doing.

Boying, who succeeded in his 2nd bid for Congress with a landslide victory over his rivals, likened elections to a "diagnostics of a machine." If the machine is defective or needs to be replaced, a diagnostics would determine this, and "if the leaders are not effective anymore, elections would determine this," he said.

The congressman issued this statement during a huddle with the local media during the victory party last Friday (May 24).

Boying and his mother re-elected Baybay City Mayor Carmen Cari and brother Vice Mayor Michael Cari, together with their winning councilors under the Liberal Party, celebrated their 13-0 win in the city, where they routed the opposition by about a 40-percent lead.

Boying also said all the LP bets in the 5th district won, except for five councilors in two towns. A coup de grace for him was Hilongos town where LP bet Albert Villahermosa routed incumbent Mayor Joy Emery Roble, a scion of Roble Shipping Lines. 

In a program that followed a thanksgiving mass, the Caris expressed their thanks to an estimated 10,000 crowd gathered at the public plaza for their continuing show of support.

The Caris also called for reconciliation among the people and urged constituents to ignore the continued attacks the opposition has been hurling on them on various media outlets.

The congressman said he would help bridge reconciliation at some barangays because he knew that the recent election has driven a wedge even among relatives. "Legal action will be done against those in the opposition who still continue to attack the Caris until now," Boying added. (FREEMAN)