No Congressional Plan, I’m Retired – Mayor Bobom

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

URDANETA CITY – The mayor here brushed off rumors that he will be running for the congressional seat at the Fifth District of Pangasinan in the next year’s election.

“No, that’s not true. It’s Mon-Mon because of his connection with GMA,” this burgeoning city’s mayor Amadeo "Bobom" Gregorio Perez IV quipped.

Mon-Mon is Binalonan Mayor Ramon V. Guico III while GMA is former president and incumbent House of Representative's Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Both Perez and Guico are exiting mayors since their nine years uninterrupted stay in office will be expiring  on June 30 next year.

FUTURE SOLONS – Exiting Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo "Bobom" Gregorio Perez IV (left) and graduating Binalonan Mayor Ramon “Mon-Mon” V. Guico. Both chief executives are based in the one city and eight towns’ 5^th Congressional District of the mammoth province of Pangasinan.

Guico’s father Ramon Jr. is the first cousin of Speaker Arroyo.

Incase Guico will run for the congressional race, political pundits said he will be pitted with re-elective District Representative Amado T. Espino, Jr. or his son and namesake Pangasinan Governor Amado III in case they switch positions.

Former District Congressman Mark O. Cojuangco will be challenging either of them in the governorship race after he told Abono Party List Chairman Rosendo So that he has a moist eye for the Capitol.

Broadcaster Harold Barcelona, a friend of the Guicos, said the family had already contacted Speaker Arroyo about the possibility of the young Guico putting his political lot in the congressional race’s next year.

“He has no option since it will not good for him running as the vice mayoralty tandem with his father Ramon, Jr. who will be making a comeback for the mayorship,” Barcelona said.

Reelectionist Vice Mayor Melicio “Ely” Flores Patague II, a rabid ally of the Guicos, still has one more term to trudge in the 2019 election.

Meanwhile, Perez said that he and Alaminos City Mayor Arthur Celeste were sworn in last Tuesday as member of presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP).

HNP, a Mindanao based regional political party, was granted accreditation by the Commission on Elections on July this year.

HNP brass is aggressively building alliances with other national political parties in the country.

Hugbong is on expansion binges after the Davao Mayor allegedly engineered the House’s ouster of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez – the Secretary of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

Perez said those who administered the oath were the officials of HNP, when asked by this paper if Mayor Duterte came to Pangasinan to meet them.
Perez and Celeste are card carrying members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition and PDP Laban.