Calimlim will beat Lomibao

Calimlim, Master in Business Administration Strayer University

Lomibao, graduate of Philippine Military Academy

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – Provincial Board Member Ranjit Shahani predicted that Vice Governor Ferdinand Calimlim will defeat vice gubernatorial candidate Arturo Lomibao in the the May 13, 2013 poll.

Shahani,a former representative of the province’s sixth district and former vice governor, said that although Calimlim has an uphill battle to climb against Lomibao he will still win the  local elections.

Shahani was being interviewed over  DWPR  when he  had a heated debate with fellow Liberal Party member former vice governor Oscar Lambino whom he accused of making whimsical decisions at the expense of the party and its members in Pangasinan.

Meanwhile, Calimlim told this paper before that his highest educational attainment was Master in Business Administration Strayer University in Washington DC in the United States .

“I went to La Salle -Greenhills for my primary and secondary education. For my tertiary level I took it (Bachelor of Science in Commerce) at De la Salle University”, he stressed.

He said his father is the late General Jose Calimlim, and his mother is Ma. Cristina Saludo Calimlim.

Before he became Mayor of Mapandan in 2001 and vice governor in 2010, he did not have any inkling he would become a politician someday.

“I always thought of myself as a private person. I never saw myself in politics until the calling came in 1999 when my late uncle – former Mayor Cesar Calimlim – passed away. There was a clamor by Mapandan Society for our family to continue his legacy. Of course we have to go through the usual transfer of succession. That’s why the clamor for me to run started in 1999 and 2000, became a reality in 2001 when I ran for mayor.”

 He said in his younger years he was always an assistant of his father in his efforts in serving the military, and in serving different high level political figures he used to protect as the commander of the Presidential Security Group.

"I was also always behind my late grandfather and my late uncle (when they were still in political office)in their efforts to serve the people,” he said.

Calimlim is running  for his third term as the vice governor in tandem  with Governor Amado T. Espino the incumbent governor who would be serving his last terms in case he wins over his challenger  Alaminos Mayor Hernani A. Braganza.