VILLASIS, Philippines — Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor appealed to the Ombudsman on Friday to temporarily stop the suspension of local officials, who are facing various charges.
Defensor, who inaugurated the town hall here, said the implementation of suspension orders ahead of the May elections had been used by members of the opposition in criticizing the Arroyo administration.
“We do not intend to preempt the Ombudsman because it’s an independent body, but we hope they will see that we do not need these situations in the middle of an election period,” he said.
He said the suspension or dismissal of local officials had repercussions on the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Read full story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DAGUPAN CITY — Mayor Ricardo Evangelista of Aguilar, Pangasinan said here today he was surprised to have learned that he was being suspended from office by the Ombudsman for a complaint against him that he did not know about.
“I was surprised. I did not know that there was a complaint against me,” Evangelista said in an interview over Aksyon Radyo here.
He said he never received any subpoena to allow him to answer the charges and he just learned about the complaint when the Department of the Interior and Local Government provincial office in Lingayen town served his supension order last Saturday.
The Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of Evangelista four months for alleged dishonesty and misconduct arising from his alleged irregular disbursement of the town’s special education fund.
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LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN – Gov. Victor Agbayani has finally broken his silence on the inclusion of his name in the administration’s senatorial slate in the May elections.
In a news release, Agbayani said he is honored to be included in the slate “as this may represent acknowledgment of all the work we have done in Pangasinan.”
“[But] this needs careful study. For one, I will need to consult our leaders in the province to determine how or in what capacity they would wish me to continue to serve,” Agbayani, who is on his last term, said.
Last Sunday, Speaker Jose De Venecia, told local media practitioners in Manaoag, Pangasinan that Agbayani was among those who have been recommended by administration coalition leaders in the senatorial line up, which included Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, also a Panagsinense.
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DAGUPAN CITY – Two congressmen, a vice governor, a former police general; and the doctor-wife of the governor may slug it out in a free-for-all gubernatorial race in Pangasinan this May.
Pangasinan’s second district Rep. Amado Espino Jr. had told newsmen here he has been aiming for the gubernatorial seat, which will be vacated by Gov. Victor Agbayani, who is now on his last term.
“It’s still an option and I’ve been preparing for it,” Espino, who is now on his second term, said.
Sixth district Rep. Conrado Estrella III, despite reports he had decided to seek reelection for his last term in his district, has not “completely dropped out of the race yet.”
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URDANETA Vice Mayor Charizzma Salud Carancho and her father, Pangasinan Fifth District Board Member Emmanuel Carancho, will exchange positions in the upcoming May elections.
The elder Carancho is in his third and last term as board member and is eyeing his daughter’s current position, while the vice mayor will attempt to go back to the Provincial Board (PB) where she was once a member as sectoral representative. The younger Carancho served as president of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL)-Pangasinan chapter from 2001 to 2004.
Political observers said Chu is “a shoo-in to one of the two seats for regular board members.”
Emmanuel is confident his daughter will make it as “they have done their best to serve their constituents.”
Read full story in Sun.Star Online
DAGUPAN CITY – A showdown between Speaker Jose De Venecia and Mayor Benjamin Lim in the congressional race here remains a big possibility after the name of Lim’s son, Bryan, floated here as the likely mayoralty candidate in the May elections.
But Lim said he is still in the process of consultations and he will make his announcement at the proper time.
“I have been getting encouragement from many of our local leaders in the district, mostly [from those] outside Dagupan, telling me that there has to be an alternative candidate in the district,” Lim said.
This city and the towns of Mangaldan, San Fabian, San Jacinto and Manaoag belong to Pangasinan’s fourth district where De Venecia has been congressman for two consecutive terms since 2001.
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DAGUPAN City – The Provincial Elections Office here has declared at least three towns and one city in Pangasinan as possible hot spots in the coming May national and local elections.
Provincial elections officer Reddy Balabar said San Nicolas in the sixth district is a potencial candidate for Commission on Elections control owing to its history of violent incidents in the past elections.
These incidents include the slayings of former San Nicolas Mayor Conrado Rodrigo right after the 2004 elections; farmer militant leader Jose Doton and some of the leaders and followers of the protagonists in the 2004 elections, Mayor Leoncio Saldivar and former Mayor Chistopher Jones Rodrigo.
Read full story in Journal Online
Three towns and one city in Pangasinan had been tagged by the Provincial Elections Office as possible hot spots in the coming elections.
Provincial Elections Supervisor Reddy Balar expressed the possibility of recommending one of those towns to be placed under Commission on Elections (Comelec) control.
Reddy Balarbar identified this town as San Nicolas, located in the sixth district of Pangasinan, which is considered as the most sensitive area of Pangasinan due to its history of political violence.
At the same time, Balarbar foresees hot election contests in the towns of Binmaley in the second district, San Fabian in the fourth district and San Carlos City in the third district.
San Nicolas is being eyed to be recommended under Comelec control because of the many recorded violent incidents that happened there in the past.
Read full story in the Philippines News Agency website
DAGUPAN CITY — The number of registered voters in Pangasinan who are qualified to vote for this year’s elections will be known on the third week of January.
This as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office said the last Election Registration Board (ERB) hearing will be on January 8 to 12. The number of new voters will also be known later.
In the 2004 elections, registered voters in the province reached 1,329,865. Of the number, 1,099,520 voted or exercised their right to suffrage.
As of October 16, 2006, the number of registered voters totaled 1,271,764. The figure is expected to increase as new registered and transferee voters are consolidated from the different local election offices.
Read full story in Sun.Star Online
