3 mayoral bets of Alaminos Unite for Espino’s reelection

Rare Display of Political Unity.  Three opposing mayoral candidates in Alaminos City namely Centrix Democratic Party’s (CDP) Teofilo Humilde Jr. (extreme left), Nationalist People’s Coalition’s (NPC) Arthur Celeste (2^nd from left) and United Nationalist Alliance’s (UNA) Cesar Manzano (center) raise their hands together with Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. (3^rd from left) in a rare display of mutual respect with each other and to denounce the dirty tactics of Liberal Party Gubernatorial bet Nani Braganza and son, Alaminos Mayoral bet Lean during a presscon held at Vista delas Islas in Alaminos City last March 21.  Also shown in photo are the vice mayoral bets of CDP, NPC and UNA.

ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan – Three mayoral bets of this city belonging to different political parties forged a tactical alliance in a bid to ensure the victory of reelectinist governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. right in this hometown of rival Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza.
 The mayoral bets – former Rep. Arthur Celeste of the Nationalist People’s Coaliton (NPC), incumbent Provincial Board Member Teofilo Humilde of the Centrist Democratic Party (CDP) and incumbent Alaminos Vice Mayor Manzano of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) – entered into a covenant of unity before a throng of mass-based supporters, including 25 of the city’s 39 barangay leaders.
 In a show of support to Espino, the three mayoralty rivals took turns in denouncing Braganza as an “inveterate liar and a peddler of falsehood who is resorting to character-assassination in a desperate bid to win public support.”
 Celeste who lost by a slim margin to Braganza in the last mayoral elections, accused the latter for “corrupting a minor to fabricate murder charges against the governor.” “He (Braganza) is not worth a cent of the people’s trust,” Celeste said, as he warned the barangay leaders not to fall prey to Braganza’s political antics.
 On the other hand, Humilde, who once served as vice mayor of the city, and Manzano called Braganza an “incompetent and incorrigible leader” as they blamed him for the non-completion of various multi-million peso projects in the city. “Because of his incompetence and lackadaisical leadership, millions of pesos in government investments for the city’s growth are going to waste,” they said.
 On the contrary, the three mayoral candidates hailed Espino for the swift transformation of Pangasinan as one of the country’s top-performing provinces.
 “In 5 years, the governor changed the province’s landscape and environment, scraped off the roadblocks of development and is harnessing to a great extent the growth engines to turn the local economy viable and globally competitive,” Celeste pointed out. “It’s about time city folks of Alaminos learn the lessons from Braganza’s shenaniganism,” he added.
 It can be recalled, Braganza said that the province is a haven of corruption and other crimes. “What Mayor Braganza did during the campaign rally of the Liberal Party here last week was contemptuous, arrogant, and without respect to a fellow candidate. Mayor Braganza used the podium to peddle lies indiscriminately, muddle the political issues and poison minds of the people,” argued the three.
 Celeste, Humilde, and Manzano also called on the President, “Sana pakinggan niya ang mga daing ng mga tao at mga lider ng lalawigan para hindi siya mahila sa mga maling paratang at paniniwala ng isang mapaglinlang na opisyal ng bayan.”
 The three are pitted against Braganza’s son, Lean, for the mayoral post. Owing to this development, political watchers in Pangasinan are raising the possibility that other mayoralty contenders in other towns of the province will similarly forge unity covenants in support of Espino.
 They noted that with NPC’s fielding of 43 mayoralty bets and 28 of whom are reelectionists, as against Liberal Party’s 29 mayoral candidates and three reelectionists, the bandwagon for an Espino win is expected to pick up momentum a week following the start of the official campaign period on March 29. (Pangasinan Asinan Media Bureau)