Mogul’s Son to Challenge Espino’s 2nd Cong. Seat?

 

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

When I dropped by at the office of re-elective Aguilar Mayor Roldan Sagles, he told me that he and Mangatarem Mayor Ramil "Balong" Ventinella shifted their political alliances to Pangasinan Second District Congressman Jumel Espino.

When former members of the House of Representatives Mark Cojuangco and Art Celestes ran but failed on their gubernatorial bids against incumbent Pangasinan Governor Amado ‘Pogi’ Espino, III Sagles and Ventinella have been the vigorous supporters of the duo in winning the hearts and minds of the hoi polloi in the third and first class towns.

Before this ‘exchanging of bonhomie” ensued at the abode of Balong Ventinella three of the seven mayors in the 325, 051 voters’ rich district (Comelec December 2018) used to be supporters of the Espinos.

Because of the defections, the last man standing against the juggernaut of the national power-that-be in the district is third class town’s Urbiztondo Mayor Martin Raul S. Sison II – whose father Raul is the nemesis of the Espinos - whom I heard will be challenged by Provincial Government Executive Moding Operana in the 2022 mayorship race.

POLITICAL HIGH “PRIESTS” of the mammoth Pangasinan Province. (Top photo L-to-R clockwise) the scion of the mogul rumored to run in the Second Congressional District in the May 9, 2022 Election; Second District Representative Jumel Espino; Espinos’ patriarch former Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr.; Pangasinan Fifth District Congressman Ramon “Mon-Mon” Guico, III; and Pangasinan Governor Amado “Pogi” Espino III.

Just like Sual Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay, Operana is a factotum of former governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. Calugay, a former cop, in the 2019 poll out foxed seasoned politicians’ former mayors John and Bing Arcinue – just like Field Marshal Erwin “ German Desert Fox” Rommel beating to guile British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in those tank battles in Africa.

From Africa, since I digress again, let's go back to Warrior Princess Urduja's acrimonious populated province  Pangasinan.

My poser here: Will Balong and Roldan stick through thick and thin when a multi-millionaire scion of one of the richest families in the Philippines opt to register in the District and challenged re-elective Congressman Jumel Espino next year?

Yesterday, a friend of the opposition bloc in Pangasinan – composed of the Lambinos, Guicos, and Celestes – told me that this scion is being groomed by the bloc to run against Jumel.

“Oh, that’s an interesting tiff. It’s like Juan Manuel Marquez challenging Manny Pacquiao in a marquee fight,” I quipped.

Many kibitzers thought that the Second District will be dull in terms of electoral hoopla because Victor Agbayani became a “has been” and financially weak and the supposed “Real Deal” former nine-year Congressman Leopoldo Bataoil contents himself in sprucing up Lingayen town as hizzoner and instead wants to slugged it out with his boloy (namesake) Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla rather than his godson Jumel - in snaring those foreign and local tourists going to the  MacArthur Landing Memorial Park by constructing its probable more than twice those life size ambitious bronze statues of Dug-Out Doug and entourage when they landed on that historic trotting of the shore of Palo, Leyte in October 17, 1944 – just like Lingayen the situs of wading was the beginning of the end of the brutal military reign of those Imperial dogs of the Japanese Forces.

“Maugong ang balita, tinanong ko Bataoil, he flatly denies it,” sez by California based Political Anal-List, er, Analyst Silvester “Anak na Lingayen” Rayos.

If the information given by my source has credibility, the best proof of this is to look at the Commission on Election if this Scion has registered as voter before May 9 this year.

Here’s the Constitution if one is qualified to run for a seat in Congress:

“XXXX a registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected, and a resident thereof for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the election” (Section 6, Article VI Legislative Department).

It means if one wants to be a congressional candidate in the May 9, 2022 national election he needs to have a domicile (sa mga Grade 6 lang ang natapos pero aksidenting nabasa itong blog  permanent na 'bahay' po iyang domicile) for one year and registered at the Comelec before May 9 this year in the district he wants to spend hundreds of millions of pesos – son of a gun it was not mentioned by those who hammered the Constitution – to vote buy the gullible highest bidding bakya crowd in a post that gives only susmariosep a measly more or less three hundred thousand pesos (Salary Grades 31 (₱295,191 monthly) and 30 ( ₱196,206 monthly) for a Solon and a Guv, respectively, in a three years term.

Damn those idiot politicians and civilians after being offended by my comments would diss me “to go back to the boondocks of Mindanao the place where I grew up (mind you with a Muslim name Datu Hakol Mortz Salsalanatin)”. What happened to the above Constitutional provision’s “... a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the election” where I am a long registered voter of Dagupan City for more than three goddamned decades?

If one needs one billion pesos to effectively run against the governorship, this Scion can burn dough in the seven towns’ district by P150 million or twice in an exciting chess match with the moneyed Espinos in the ingratiating game among the vulnerable mostly great unwashed 325, 051 voters there.

P1,000 per voter? Susmariosep you’re talking about budget for a Kapitan race and I’m not talking here how much Dagupan former Mayor Belen Fernandez and incumbent Mayor Brian Lim had done that Jollibee and McDonald branches inthe coastal city were emptied of their stocks in five days.

In case this Battle Royal ensues in the District, P3,000 pesos per voter susmariosep can be a possibility.

Gezz, that will be a staggering P585 million (195,000 voters (60% of the 325,000 voters) multiplied by P3,000).

It could loosen some monetary problems in case Pangasinan Fifth District Representative Mon-Mon Guico chooses to slug it out with Pogi Espino in the governorship's derby in the 44 towns three cities (Dagupan City is an independent local government unit) province while his father and name sake seeks redemption with tongs and hammer – reclaim in a rampage his Fifth District congressional post against Guico’s wife the amiable young pretty Ma-An Tuazon G. who defends the eight towns and one city rampart while her man ventures another uncharted territory to reign - now one of the biggest provinces in the country.

‘How much did Art Celeste spend in the 2019 governorship post versus Pogi? I asked a political operator several months ago.

“P350 million”

(My source yesterday told me one needs one billion pesos to effectively run for the guv’s post in Pangasinan).

“During Nani Braganza’s venture for the governorship how much monies he spent?”

My source told me Nani got a minuscule amount than Art thus both of them were beaten to pulps by Amado “Pogi” Espino, III.

Can Mon-Mon beat the financial juggernaut of the Espinos in case he runs for that coveted seat in Urduja in the Capitol with the Scion challenging the well-entrenched congressional citadel of the family in the Second District? Will have to see it.

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

Congresswoman To Resign After Naked Photos, 3-Somes Exposed

(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)