Lambino Cancels Cong. Bid, Asks De Venecia to Support Guico for Guv

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

My spook told me that the Resistance, er, Opposition in the huge Pangasinan province met Thursday’s night in a closed door meeting held at the residence of Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) and Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon Secretary Raul Lambino at Buenlag, Mangaldan in Pangasinan.

“Madaming baka doon sa likod,’ he quipped when I cried anak ng bakang dalaga scoop ko iyan mamaya ah.

He said I could write what he told me but I should hide him in anonymity.

Geez, I like the word “anonymity” it is one of the elements to parry any libel case cited by the Flips, er, Filipinos version's of the Shield Law Republic Act No. 1477 that says: “….reporter of any newspaper, magazine or periodical of general circulation cannot be compelled to reveal the source of any news-report  …”

GOVERNORSHIP BET of the opposition in Pangasinan is Fifth District Congressman Ramon “Mon-Mon’ Guico, III. Others in photo from top to bottom are the Matriarch of the powerful De Venecia Family former Congresswoman Gina de Venecia, Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon Secretary Raul Lambino, and Billionaire Bayambang Mayor Cezar Quiambao.

The Yanks especially during the Watergate Scandal called this covert news sourcing as Deep Background just like what fellow journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of Washington Post getting dirt against the Nixon Administration from sore FBI Associate Director Mike Felt aka Deep Throat.

Here were some of the colloquies agreed by Lambino, Fifth District Congressman Ramon “Mon-mon” Guico, III, his father and name sake Binalonan Mayor Monching, Bayambang Mayor Cezar Quimbao, former Alaminos Mayor Art Celeste, Former Congressman Mark Cojuangco, Board Member Von Mark Mendoza, and other personalities:

1) The opposition against the political juggernaut of former Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr, his governor son and namesake, his congressman’s son Jumel, and their allies agreed to field Congressman Guico for the governorship race next year against Governor Pogi Espino.

2) Lambino told the group that they will forego their moist eye to challenge Rep. Christopher “Toff’ de Venecia.

Hereunder are the nitty gritty of what transpired in that Central Pangasinan’s town:

The group in that meeting have been optimistic that they can break the monopoly of the Espino electoral power in Pangasinan because Mark Cojuangco had registered as voter in Lingayen and ready for the War of Financial Attrition against incumbent Second District Rep. Jumel Espino in the eight towns’ situs.

“He even told some of the folks there his readied hundreds of millions of pesos campaign chest. He inherited billions of pesos from his father Danding (Eduardo Murphy Cojuangco Jr. was the chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corporation -MCO),” my spy told me.

“Danding’s worth was U.S $1.4 Billion or P69 billion as posted by Forbes Magazine in 2019,” I told a Congressman closed to the Cojuangcos in my telephone conversation last week.

“No, much bigger than that. In the inheritance Gretchen (wife of Danding) got P95 billion while the six children in and out of wedlock divide the other P95 billion among themselves,” he said to me.

Quiambao, my spook said, is already secured in Bayambang. “He earns P200 million a month in his business nobody can dislodge him there,” after I told the source that a nephew of the Espino will be challenging the mayorship of the business czar named Cezar.

‘The Espinos would be in a REAL FIGHT. The Celestes are prepared with their monies in the First District, the Guicos have their wherewithal ready against the older Espino regaining his congressional seat, Mon-Mon will be shored up by the group who will chip-in millions of pesos to lock horns with Pogi. The Espinos will have a tough races next year,” after he told me that the hustings and the election of May 9, 2022 will be more exciting than the provincial races in 2013, 2016, and 2019.

Monies that will circulate in the once Kingdom of Lady Warrior Princess Urduja will be mind numbing susmariosep!

All gloves were off after that meeting.

The Guicos told them that last month they were ready to compromise with the Espinos where former Rep. Amado will not challenge Mon-Mon while the latter will not snare the governorship from Pogi.

‘After several proposed meetings did not push through through the intercession of a Western Pangasinan Mayor and a Political Consigliere and Cojuangco filing his registration as voter in Lingayen, Monching and Mon-Mon became pugnacious and itching to do battles with their hundreds of millions,” the insider disclosed over a pack of Jollibee’s Chicken Joy.

He said wife Ma-an Guico mans the citadel of the eight towns one city Fifth District while Monching acts as the Praetorian Guard on the rampart of the 24 villages first class town against any proxy candidate with a named like Ryan Gotoc, Monching’s nephew, commissioned by Urduja “Palace’ in Lingayen.

The intriguing news my spook gave me is their scheme on the 310,711 voters (Comelec 2018 data) four towns one city’s Fourth Congressional District in Central Pangasinan.

Lawyer Raul, according to the source, told the group that they will forego their moist eye to challenge Rep. Christopher “Toff’ de Venecia but in a quid pro quo: Manay Gina – the powerful matriarch of the De Venecia supports the gubernatorial bid of Ramon Guico, III.

“Malabo iyan. Loyal si Manay kay Espines. She is the District’s chair of the PDP (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan) while Espino (the father - MCO) is the provincial boss of the PDP," the close supporter of former Congresswoman Gina told me on the phone after I called him to divulge what happened in the meeting in Mangaldan. With the recalcitrant De Venecias as based on the pronouncement of my source to compromise but instead gung-ho to continue the skirmishes – where we saw trolls lambasted mercilessly and with regularity the beleaguered Lambinos – the voters of the District will be manliket (Pangasinan word of “relish” or “happy” as dough will whet their hungry appetite especially amid the pandemic.

My poser on my spook's disclosure: 1) Why the Lambinos sacrifice their yearning for the District? Are they just magnanimous so De Venecia supports Guico and the latter defeat Pogi Espino? Was there a survey that they have no China Man's chance to beat the son of seasoned politiko five-time House Speaker Joe de Venecia – and Raul’s mentor, too?

(MY SOURCE IN THE DE VENECIA CAMP SAYS IN MAY 3 THAT HIS PATRONS HAVE NOT YET FINALIZED THEIR SHIFT FROM LAKAS TO PDP. IT MEANS THE QUID PRO QUO FROM LAMBINO - WHERE THE DE VENECIAS SUPPORT GUICO'S GUBERNATORIAL BID - HAS A BIG CHANCE TO HAPPEN)

Aside from telling me that Mark Lambino remains as the vice governorship candidate under Guico, the feelers that the group will talk with Manay Gina and Speaker Joe to persuade them – like you spend hundreds of millions of pesos versus Lambino or collaborate with our group? - will be Celeste and Quiambao.

How about you readers, if you’re in the shoes of the De Venecias will you grab the offer and save hundreds of millions of pesos campaign trove or stand by that nowadays scarce virtue called “loyalty’ to the party?

READ MY OTHER BLOG/COLUMN:

WhyReporters Hide Their News Source

(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)

Ang Naghihikahos na Dagupan Milk Fish at Bangus Festival

DUE TO CHEAP PRICED BULACAN BANGUS

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Ngayon ay a non working holiday in Dagupan City dahil sa customarily and yearly Bangus Festival.

ilang buwan o taon na bago itong celebration, many critics of the coastal city’s mayor Brian Lim hissed that what he leads today is not a Dagupan Bangus Festival but Bulacan Bangus Festival – what with the proliferation of cheap milk fish from the central Luzon’s province deceptively sold to unwary buyers in and out of the city by vendors in the Magsasay Fish Complex as the vaunted tastiest Dagupan Bangus.

Dahil sa nalagay sa peligro ang mga bulsa ng mga fishpond and fish pen owners and workers dito sa Dagupan at Binmaley areas, naglabas ng Ordinansa ang city government sa pamamagitan ng: City Ordinance No. 21792019 passed by the City Council known as “To Protect the Dagupan Bangus Industry and Enhance Consumer Information by Regulating the Local Sale of Bangus Sourced from Outside the Geographic Boundaries of the City of Dagupan, Providing Market Schedule and Penalties for Violation Thereof.

The vaunted Dagupan Bangus Festival.

Sa akin lang itong batas local na ito ay ILLEGAL AT UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Puwedeng kwestiyunen sa Korte ito ng mga negosyanteng magbabangus ng Bulacan. Ito ay kontra sa FREE ENTERPRISE AT LAISSEZ FAIRE na provision natin sa Constitution.

Ano ito imported na kailangan e regulate ng Congress o Presidente sa pamamagitan ng pag ban, pag taas ng taripa, o pag pababa pa ng minimum access volume (MAV)?

Ang Bulacan ay parte ng Pilipinas.

Hindi Ibig sabihin dahil mura ang Egg Pie sa Ongpin at Binondo gagawa ng ordinansa ang mga Councilors dito sa Dagupan para kaunti ang pumasok na kakaning Maynila at ma protektahan ang Egg Pie industry ng mga kababayan natin dito sa siyudad?

Wag nga?!

Tanungin ninyo si Maricar Adriano iyong leader na buntis sa Pasig City na naka short na kilabot ng community pantry na nagsalaula noong nilimas ng mga kasamahan niyang mga dorobo ang mga pagkaing naka display kasama na iyong dalawang trays ng itlog panggawa niya ng egg pie siguro hahahaha!

Sino ba ang mas matimbang na interest dito sa brouhaha na halos ipagbawal ang “alien” bangus Bulucan sa atin?

BACCHANALIAN FEAST. Dinner held at dusk of Jose de Venecia Hihgway Extension with then senatorial bets Bato dela Rosa and Jingoy Estrada, actor Jeric Raval and political bigwigs of Pangasinan politics at the year's 2019 Bangus Street Party in Dagupan City. Author is at extreme right.

Ang mamimili ng murang bangus Bulacan na hundreds of thousands sa labas at sa loob ng siyudad o iyong kapipiranggot na mga fishpond at fish pen owners and workers?

Sa Economics may tinatawag dito na comparative advantage kung saan dahil mura ang isdang Bulacan more buyers patronized them.

This phenomenon is laudable because this is what we call dimwits the GENERAL WELFARE!

Isang factor na mahal ang Dagupan bangus kasi pini fill up na ng mga buhangin at mga fishponds  - to whet the profit motivated interest of folks here - kaya pakunti na lang sila.

Si Adam Smith ba ang nagsabi sa Wealth of the Nation niya: The lesser the supply the higher the price of the goods?

Ano ngayon kung sisirain o papatayin ng oversupply Bulacan Bangus ang spirit ng vaunted Dagupan Bangus Festival kung saan ang street party na kilo-kilometro ang haba ay dinadayo ng mahigit isang dosenang bandang Maynila, mga hindi mabilang na bangus grills, mabangong usok na galing sa iniihaw na isda, nakakabinging tawanan ng mga lasing, at hundreds of thousand of spectators walking to and from the more than two kilometers Judge Jose R. De Venecia Highway Extension noong wala pa ang pandemyang Corona Virus Disease-19?

Ang spirit ba na iyan ay mas superior sa naghihikahos na bulsa ng countless na mamimili kung saan ang isang kilong bangus na Bulucan ay puweding mabili ng P110 versus sa P140 na Dagupan Bangus?

To paraphrase Karl Marx, ang masasabi ko lang; Wither Dagupan Bangus Wither.

Wala kayong pinagkaiba sa high priced selling inefficient Filipino farmers, hog raisers, at iba pa kung saan ang Malacanang ay kumampi sa 100 milyong kapuspalad na Filipino consumers sa pamamagitan ng pag open ng importasyon para lang mapababa for example ang P75 kilo na bigas sa P29 at P400 kilo ng baboy sa P200.

Masama ba ang P100 kilo Bulacan Bangus kontra sa P140 kilo Dagupan Bangus sa mahigit 200 thousand Dagupenos?

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

The Story of a "Red Rose" in this Motel

(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)

Superior Funds Key to Electoral Victory

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

The general rule in the Philippine election: The one who has the gold wins.

The exception to the rule: When a mayoralty wannabe in central Pangasinan duked it out with the missus of the long reigning hizzoner, the spouse in early 2010s spent P500 to vote buy while the young amiable village chief spent only P200 to ingratiate with the voter. El Kapitan susmariosep won with a staggering lead votes!

GMA-7 TV evening news likewise quoted recently the wife of slain Batuan, Masbate Vice Mayor that despite the tens if not hundreds of millions of pesos spent by Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s Board of Director Sandra Cam for her son’s vice mayoralty bid against Vice Mayor Charlie Yuson III in the 2019 election, the son – despite her wherewithal allegedly derived from her powerful post – still lost the poll.

Cam is now hunted by the cops with warrant of arrest after she, her son Marco Martin Cam, then acting Batuan Mayor Nelson Cambaya, and alleged gunmen Junel Gomez, Bradford Solis, Juanito De Luna, and Rigor Dela Cruz were implicated to the assassination of Yuson.

Philippine currency One Thousand Peso bills - the magic wands that win the bid of a politician in the Philippines for an elective post. Despite the low pay of a public office, moneyed Filipinos spend millions of pesos to win it because they considered the position as badge of prestige.

The spouses in Pangasinan had traumatic experienced with the down-to-earth Kapitan when the latter buried in a landslide votes the wife.

A supporter explained to this writer that the political and economic equation in 2013 was far different to the present stocks of El Kapitan cum El Hizzoner.

 “He significantly transformed from a shoe-string budgeted ABC President to a big time contractor,” he cited.  

Kap is a beneficiary of hundreds of millions of pesos of government projects from congressional and provincial officials who were his allies. 

The source cited how cash strapped was the wet behind the ear mayoralty bet in the 2013 poll where a rich politician went to his succor.

“The politician had beef to grind against the spouses,  loaned her  house and lot to help shore up the Kapitan campaign chest because she could not stomach anymore how the spouses reigned the town,” the source explained to me.

“Pati mga kamag anak ko abroad nag ambag ambag para makatulong sa kampanya ko,” the Mayor now told me before.

The supporter cited that even with a superior wherewithal of the hated spouses by most of the electors since one of them was the incumbent mayor, the voters still gravitated to their bet in 2013 where they voted him overwhelmingly.

“I won in a landslide in that election. I won in all the villages except one where I lost 24 votes,” the Mayor stressed to me.

The voters who milled around him in the barangays told him not to worry about the superiority of funds of the spouses since they despised the family.

xxx

I was in San Fabian yesterday and my source told me how can mayoralty aspirants BARMM Regional Director Juvenal B. Azurin and Board Member Liberato Villegas win against the party’s juggernaut of Mayor Danny Agbayani when almost all of the villages officials of the 34 barangays have been treated with foods, dole-outs, and raffle contests’ proceeds with prices ranging up to P2000 to each of the recipient whenever the Mayor and spouse Marlyn - who is groomed to be the heir apparent of the former  – drop-by to a village.

“Mayor Danny and Major Efren Fajardo – a village kap - were too generous they give P500 to P2000 for each of the recipients in the raffle during the party given to the village officials,” a source told me.

The officials were the barangay chairman, the nine members of the Barangay Council (Sangguniang Barangay), Tanod, barangay health workers (BHW) have been each given the dough.

“Magkano sa Kapitan?” I asked.

“Secret. Pero sa Kagawad (Council Member) P1,000 each and the rest P500 each”.

The Mayor and Fajardo spent up to P100,000 sometimes in some of these villages for the bacchanalian feast, susmariosep, more than a year before the May 9, 2022.

“Paano iyong dalawang kalaban?”

“Si Lebi brought his dump trucks and fill-up with soils some shallow areas of the barangays. He treated too the masa with arroz caldo”.

“Hanggang lugaw lang ang kaya,” the source said about Villegas who is known as stingy according to him.

Azurin, the source said, is roving too this early the villages.

My source said that the Agbayanis have a huge financial chest complement’s of their moneyed patron above.

“We have now 60,000 voters but only 45,000 voted last 2019 election,” he told me to correct my 2018 Commission on Election’s data quoted on my past news article that there were 52, 334  in the first class coastal town.

xxx

Not to be outdone on the generosity game, my source said that former Congresswoman Gina de Venecia would be meeting the former Barangay Kapitans of San Fabian so either Vice Governor Mark Lambino or spouse Lawyer Melanie Lambino – the rumored rival of her son Congressman Toff – will be deprived of the leader and influence comes the D-Day in May 2022.

The Lambinos including their patriarch Secretary and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Administrator Raul Lambino will be dealing with the likewise politically well oiled de Venecia family that includes former five - time House Speaker Joe de Venecia.

Mayor Agbayani and the De Venecia are politically allies where they have the support of the 32 of the 34 village chiefs of the coastal town in Central Pangasinan.

My source said too that former mayor Jaming Libunao left Agbayani and joined the camp of Raul Lambino and Board Member Libe Villegas. Libunao will try to regain his post in the provincial board (Sangguniang Panlalawigan) after failing poorly to regain the mayorship in a series of bids against his godson Danny.

READ MY OTHER COLUMN AND BLOG:

Award those Reporters who Passionately Support our Troops

(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)