Dagupan Mayor Visits Wake of Former Rival BSL

Mayor, VM Brian seated beside each other

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – The mayor here showed her magnanimity Saturday afternoon when she paid her respect to the remains of her former mayoral rival in the May 13, 2013 election.

Mayor Belen T. Fernandez and party were welcomed inside the Eternal Memorial Park Chapel at the Eternal Gardens here by Vice Mayor Brian Lim. The vice mayor is the son of the deceased former Mayor Benjie S. Lim who was also known on his acronym's BSL.

MAYOR BELEN AT THE WAKE - Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (left photo) outside the Eternal Memorial Park Chapel  at the Eternal Gardens in Dagupan City where the remains of former rival and mayor Benjamin S. Lim (right photo) are displayed. Photo: Mortz C. Ortigoza 

         The yong Lim and reelectionist mayor Fernandez are rival in the May 13 election this year for the mayorship of this richest city in Region 1.

          Fernandez was accompanied by some city officials like City Health Officer Ophelia Ticsay Rivera , reelective  Councilors Chito Samson, Guillermo “Emong” Vallejos, and many village chiefs of the 31 barangays here.

After shaking the hand of the vice mayor and after viewing the deceased in the casket, Fernandez and the vice mayor sat beside each other at the second row of the farthest seating area that faced the oak designed coffin flanked at each corner by two police armed honor guards.

The chapel that could accommodate a hundred people was jampacked, where some stood already, by supporters of the former mayor and vice mayor like councilor Red Erfe-Mejia, Mark Mapanao, Lina Tan, Armi Bangsal-Lorica and husband, candidate for this city's council Dada Reyna and her mother Marlyn Manaois-Reyna, and relatives of the Lims.

Fernandez wore a combination of green, white, and blue collar shirt while the vice mayor was clad in a brown polo shirt and black pants.

A day before the visit of the mayor, Councilor Marvin Fabia told this writer that the mayor and members of her electoral ticket would be paying their respect at 1 pm Saturday at the wake of Lim.

Mayor Fernandez however told this writer at the Eternal Gardens that the plan to visit the wake was 3 pm.

Mitz Cresencio, the official photographer of the vice mayor, said that taking photos were prohibited by the Lim family while Mayor Fernandez and Vice Mayor Lim were inside the chapel.

The crowd who are supporters of Vice Mayor Brian Lim and his late father Benjie outside the Eternal Memorial Park Chapel of the Eternal Gardens in Dagupan City. Photo: Mortz C. Ortigoza

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Fernandez stayed there for 15 minutes and thereafter stood up and extended her hand to Lim to shake hand as she prepared to leave.

Lim reciprocated the gesture by tapping  twice the back left shoulder of Fernandez with his left hand as he accompanied her to the door.

There was a deafening silence among the crowd inside as they observed the duo’s limited interaction with each other. 

 Lim and the Fernandez are Filipino-Chinese who are not only perennial rival in the politics of this city but of the chains of malls they operated in and out of Pangasinan province.

Before succumbing to  pneumonia last January 16, Lim suffered a major stroke in the eve of the acrimonious May 13, 2013 mayoral poll here against Mayor Fernandez. The latter then was Lim's vice mayor.

Former Mayor Lim, 66, was called the "Father of Bangus Festival", as he brainchild the biggest annual summer festival in Pangasinan that is par if not bigger presently under Mayor Fernandez than the Pista'y Dayat Festival (Sea Festival) sponsored by the provincial government in Lingayen, Pangasinan.

Before he entered politics, Lim had stints as general manager of Duty Free Philippines, Junior Chamber International (JCI) as world executive's vice president, and national president of JCI Philippines.

He won as congressman of the 4th District of Pangasinan from 1998-2001, city mayor from 2001-2007, defeated by former House Speaker Jose de Venecia in the congressional race in the May 2007 poll, but won the mayorship in 2010 election against come backing former mayor Al Fernandez. 
In 2013 mayoral election he was defeated by former Vice Mayor Fernandez.

READ: Former Political Foes Condole with the Lim Family