Arroz Caldo, Drinks, Dancers, Gays, Power Mayoral Bet Rally

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Unlike a typical electoral rally, the stump here by a candidate was a treat to spectators.

Hot sumptuous arroz caldo (chicken rice porridge) in cups and cold Zest-o mango and orange juice drinks meet them as they enter the area with gyrating and stomping dancers that ride on the beats of the loud music from a huge sound systems and gays cat walking in an imagined runway for models and shouting with their lungs out their favored candidates to the amused crowd.

POPULAR - Congressman and Lingayen mayoral candidate Leopoldo Bataoil, a former three-star police general, is flanked by OFW Family Partylist second nominee Roy M.Señeres, Jr. (extreme left) and Lingayen Vice Mayor Teng Tapia who is running for a seat in the town's legislative council under the slate of Bataoil. Photo was taken before the start of the stump recently of the solon at Barangay Domalandan, capital town Lingayen in Pangasinan. Because of the popularity of Bataoil various party list groups like Tinderong Pinoy, 1 Pacman and others piggyback on him. 

This hoopla that started at seven o’clock in the evening was part of the mayoral bid in this capital town of exiting congressman Leopoldo Bataoil.

When asked if he served hot arroz caldo when he courted the votes of his constituents in his almost nine years stint as representative in the eight towns' 2nd Congressional District, his loud retort to this writer amidst the earsplitting music emanating from the two giant sound systems nearby:

“Dito lang, dito lang ha ha ha pa arroz caldo ko! Walang ganoon sa congressional!”

Bataoil is challenging the perennial dominion of Mayor Josefina “Iday” Castaneda in a post governed by her and her late husband Jonas for more than two decades.

Although he needs to win the alliances of the 32 village chiefs compared to the herculean jobs of winning the hearts and minds of the eight town mayors, the 231 barangays chairmen, and the more than 300,000 voters in the congressional district, the former three-star police general said he has still to network with other leaders since most of the village chiefs here are allied with the lady mayor.

HOT arroz caldo (chicken rice porridge) and cold tetra pack drinks flow freely for the crowd to consume in the rally of exiting congressman and mayoral bet Pol Bataoil.

“Dito ngayon you have to deal at your own. I deal with 32 barangays. Kung hindi mo kakampi iyong barangay captain although they are supposed to be apolitical you will know their inclination. So kung hindi mo kakampi, you have to look for somebody else to help you”.

He cited that 20 of the village chiefs are backing Castaneda, a two term mayor, while he got the loyalty of the 12 barangay chairmen.

“So that is an advantage sa kanila. But I don’t see it as a disadvantage to me because there are so many people na other than those barangay captains who manifested their strong support and many of them are leaders. Kaya we are going to go to the grassroots”.

The courteous solon has an answer when asked how he would deal with the vaunted popularity of the Castanedas.

THIRD SEX -  A member of the third sex catwalks in an imagined runway for models by hyping the names in the slate of  Lingayen, Pangasinan mayoratly candidate Leopoldo Bataoil in a stump recently at Barangay Domalandan of the Capital Town.

Is the ghost of Jonas, an excellent singing chain smoking Lothario, still carry weight on the vast number of voters in the barrio because they ride on the man's probable maxim: Inanakan, Ina-Anak, at Anak Anakan (Impregnated, God Children, Adopted Children) purportedly in every of the villages here? Posed to Bataoil by another media man.

“That’s one factor na talagang bini break through ko. Kasi Filipino culture iyan e. Na intindihan ko so sometime merong utang na loob culture. But we have many ways and means how to break through. Nag aral naman ako ng principles ng Art of War by Sun Tzu ha ha ha we know how to deal with those kinds of situation”.

He said that his house-to-house visit in every village that he did before the start of his rally bears fruits.

“Very upbeat ang aming campaign operation dito sa Lingayen, 32 barangays suddenly they accept us very positively there is wide acceptance dito. We tend to finish the meeting de abanse 32 barangay in a 45 - day period. Although sometime nagkakaroon kami ng dalawang barangays sa isang araw. But before that ang ginagawa namin meron kaming house to house operation ng bayan. Ang inaasam ng line up ko ang Lingkod ng Bayan ang gagaling nila we were able to reach out. So many people even the silent majority na tinatanong Lingkod ng Bayan Team”.

Well paid dancers strut their stuffs.

He said people in this town wanted transformation. They wanted that the municipality should have outgrown other municipalities in the province because it is the capital town.

“There is a ground swell for change for positive change. Ayaw nila kung ano ano ang dumating sa bayan ng Lingayen. “Okay – okay” hindi puwedi sa kanila iyong. Gusto nila ang Lingayen should be top of the rest by being the capital town ito. Ayaw nila ng whatever comes up. “Okay na lang” hindi puwede sa akin iyon e. Lingayen has the ideal as role model all over Pangasinan”.

On his commissioning of gays who entertained the crowd ensued because of his being friendly with the third sex.

“Si Congresswoman Roman na vice chairman ko sa Committee on Veterans (Affairs & Welfare) iyong advocacy niya na adopt ko yearly. I’m presenting to the people that we don’t discriminate. We respect people of all sectors that’s why you see that”.
Representative Geraldine Roman (1st District, Bulacan) was the first Filipino transgender who won a seat in the House of Representatives.

Unlike in other towns that mayoral bets are barred by the village chiefs allied with the incumbent mayors to use the covered court, Bataoil became pugnacious when he told this writer that the chief in Barangay Domalandan here could not deprive him to use the edifice because he interceded for its construction from the national coffer.

“Hindi puwede sa akin iyan. Kakasuhan ko ang kapitan. Dadalhin ko sa Ombudsman,” He said in reference to the chairman who is allied with Castaneda.

A member of the LGBT or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender shows his support to the candidates. 

With a billion pesos a year infrastructure and tourism projects the solon lobbied from the national government, Bataoil has adorned the town proper and the villages with multi-million pesos buildings like gymnasiums, tourism center’s Esplanade Al-Fresco, 15 – kilometer Lingayen-Binmaley Bypass Road Project, 13- kilometer Bay Walk with boardwalks, 200 meters long, proposed light craft ferry terminal, almost PhP70 million restoration of  the breathtaking Spanish era vintage Royal House’s Casa Real that dwarfed the municipal hall nearby, and countless others.

READ MY OTHER ARTICLE:

The Saga of Leopoldo Bataoil Continues