Gubatan Splits Between Malacanang Offer and Mayoralty Run

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

SAN FABIAN – The mayoralty timber here for the next year’s election is divided after the presidential palace offered him to be the Special Assistant to Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon (PANL).

Lawyer Gerald Z. Gubatan said Secretary Raul L. Lambino, PANL, recently wrote him about his appointment.

“In the exigency of public service, you are hereby appointed as Special Assistant to the Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon under the Office of the President, effective immediately. As such, you are hereby tasked to assist the undersigned in the efficient discharge of the duties and functions and the effective delivery of services to the people of Northern Luzon,” the letter stated that Gubatan eventually accepted.

 

APPOINTED - Clockwise from left: Special Assistant to Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon (PANL) Lawyer Gerald Z. Gubatan, PANL Raul Lambino, and San Fabian Mayor Danny Agbayani.

Gubatan, the counsel of number betting game's juggernaut Speed Game Incorporated, said he is presently weighing the post he considered as “marching order from President Rodrigo R. Duterte” or throw his hat for the mayorship of this town after various sectors here exhort him to challenge the incumbency of Mayor Constante "Danny" B. Agbayani.

Gubatan is a second political generation of the illustrious Gubatan clan where his father Conrado, a village chief here, became the longest reigning mayor of this coastal town.

“This needs a deep contemplation whether to throw my hat in the political arena or help Secretary Lambino carves the development, peace and order,  politics, and anti-graft in Northern Luzon”.

Lately, Secretary Lambino told media men that as Presidential Adviser of Northern Luzon he would push for the establishment of an international seaport “most likely in the municipality of Sual, (Pangasinan)”.

As an important step it is necessary to make Pangasinan an economic zone to make the province more attractive to both foreign and domestic investors, he cited.

PANL is a powerful position as based on the pronouncement of Lambino when he took his oath of office last July.

 He said his mandate is to ensure that timely government services are rendered to countrymen from Bulacan to Batanes, coordinate with national agencies and local government units, and focus on economic development and social services.

"Priority natin na mapaangat ang kabuhayan ng ating mga kababayan, mabigyan sila ng regular na trabaho at mapaganda 'yung mga imprastraktura at kalusugan ng ating mga mamamayan," he said as quoted by GMA News Online.

North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle composed the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative, and northern portions of the northern provinces of Central Luzon like Aurora (North of Baler), Nueva Ecija (South of Cabanatuan City), Tarlac (North of Tarlac City), and Zambales (North of Subic).