Bitter Political Rivals Unite to Beat Malasiqui Mayor

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – former bitter and perennial electoral rival grudgingly merges with each other to trounce-out their bête noire the sitting mayor of this biggest populated town in Pangasinan province.

Former nine years' mayor and incumbent vice mayor Armando Domantay, Sr. said that it took Bayambang billionaire Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao to broker that he and former Liga ng mga Barangay President Alfie Soriano joined forces to beat Mayor Noel Anthony M. Geslani, Governor Amado Espino, III and his ticket to get the majority of the more or less 80, 000 voting populated town.

RIVALS MERGE. Perennial and bitter political rivals Malasiqui Vice Mayor Armando Domantay, Sr. (left photo clockwise) and former Liga ng Barangay President Alfie Soriano collaborated to beat their bête noire Mayor Noel Anthony Geslani in the May 9, 2022 election. Domantay and Soriano – a product of the deft brokerage of Bayambang Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao – run for the mayorship and vice mayorship, respectively, of the biggest town in Pangasinan Province.

The Vice Mayor did not imagine that someday he would be collaborating with a former perennial foe where they both crossed swords of decades of ugly and acrimonious skirmishes to control the political power here.

Domantay narrated that the clashes started with Soriano’s father Alfonso or Ponsing in the vice mayorship race in 1995, continued in 2007 when he beat Alfie for the mayorship, and his mother Fe in the 2010 mayorship derby.

“Alam na po ninyo hindi ko po maipagkaila na ang Domantay at Soriano ay dekadang ng naglalaban ngunit ito sigurong anduon ng magkaisa na ang naglalaban sa pulitika sa tawag ng kabutihan, kapayapaan, at kaunlaran ng bayang Malasiqui,” he articulated in Pilipino.

Indeed, politics makes strange bedfellows, to rephrase what William Shakespeare wrote on the play’s The Tempest.

Domantay stressed that after he defeated Alfie in the 2007 mayorship election with a lead votes of more than 2,000, he eclipsed with more or less 1,000 votes Fe Soriano in the mayorship contest in 2010.

“Pangatlong mayor (election) Nanay Fe na naman pero malayo na. Sa vice mayor ko naman si Nanay Fe 2013, 2016 si Alfie muli. 2019 wala na,” he said about his easy win against Fe in their rematch in the 2013 election.

In his reelection in the 2016 vice mayorship derby, he beat the young Soriano with a measly 32 votes.

Alfie went to the court and questioned the minuscule win allegedly reeking with anomaly against Domantay. The court however rejected the petition of Soriano.

“Ngunit dahil siguro kaunti ang lamang pero sa counting nanalo ako. Saka sa evidentiary protesta naman niya panalo na naman ako kaya dinismis na nila ang protesta niya. So malinis na ngayon, oo”.

Domantay said that before he was picked by the party of governorship candidate Ramon Guico, III, another candidate lobbied Guico and Quiambao to be the official mayoralty candidate.

Sources of Northern Watch Newspaper said it was perennial mayorship aspirant Jebong de Guzman.

“Noong nag ayos si Mayor Cezar Quiambao. Nag courtesy call ako sa kanya doon  sa Bayambang kasama ko si (Board Member) VC Ventanilla. Kinausap nila ako kung ano ang gusto ko. Tatakbo ba akong mayor? Nasabi ko kay Engineer Rosendo So may vice mayor ako o wala tatakbo akong mayor”.

At that time Soriano was adamant to tandem with Domantay but the influential intercession of Quiambao – a huge financial contributor to his political allies – made Soriano acquiesced to the collaboration.

“Ayaw sumama. Ngayon tinawagan ni Mayor Quiambao. Ako ang bahala. Ang mayor ko Domantay. “Okay okay Boss walang problema kung ako ang gusto niya”, “he quoted the retort of Alfie Soriano to Quiambao.

He said the people of Malasiqui – 143, 094 populated in the Philippines Statistics Authority's 2020 census – were happy to learn about the unification. For them, he continued, the bickering families chose the path of “aliguas”, “Kapayapaan”, and “Katahimikan” as they flex their muscle to expose the alleged corruption of the Geslani Administration on its six years’ reign.

“Sa katunayan ako nag endorse sa kanya noong naging mayor siya. Hindi ko masikmura ang kanyang ginagawa sa kanyang panunungkulang sa munisipyo,” Domantay criticism of his rival.

During the State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) of Quiambao middle of this year in Bayambang, Soriano could just envy how the Mayor implemented his zero tolerance to corruption.

“Hindi siya corrupt at very transparent. Inuuna ang kapakanan ng kanyang constituents at ang visions niya for Bayambang ay nakakalula. I wish we can do that too sa Malasiqui,” he reacted with insinuation probably how the Mayor of the biggest town in the 44 towns, three cities’ Pangasinan mismanages the coffer.

READ MY OTHER BLOG/COLUMN:

My Encounter with a Lady Ghost