Meet Martin Sison: Ex-Mayor, Solon, Incoming BM

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

While sitting at one of the seats in the lounge of the office of the Vice Governor at the Capitol in Lingayen yesterday afternoon and exchanging pleasantries with the councilors (lawmakers) from other towns and cities of Pangasinan who were there for the review of their mostly supplemental budgets by the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial lawmakers), a young male councilor clad in a blue barong, Thailand Wai style ( pressing the palms together with fingers pointing upward, and slightly bowing the head) gesture and told me he is Martin Sison (former mayor of Urbiztondo).

“Oo, kilala kita. The incoming Board Member (ex-officio Councilors League of Pangasinan)!” I told the former Hizzoner.
He told me he reads my political blogs.

“Nabasa mo iyong recent blog ko na “BM Cruz Ika-3 "Most Powerful Politician" sa Prov'l Politics”.
He answered in the affirmative.

That blog became viral but was second only to my “Engr. Hits DPWH, Dagupan Mayor for Misguided Flood Control” – with hundreds of thousands of views based at the dashboard of Facebook and with 385 shares as of this writing).

I told him how the Supreme Court solved the clash to be a senior board member in Albay Province when the No. 1 highest voted board member did not get the plum.
In Tagalog I wrote: “Naging isyu itong pagiging ikatatlo sa line of succession noong nabanggit ng writer na ito sa kay Pangasinan Vice Governor Mark Ronald Lambino ang kasong umabot sa Korte Suprema na Victoria versus Commission on Elections kung saan si Juan D. Victoria (Albay 2nd District) ay kinasuhan niya sa Korte Supreme ang Commission on Election (Comelec) sa pamamagitan ng Petition for Certiorari sa ilalim ng Rule 65 ng Revised Rules of Court kung bakit hindi siya ang inilagay na Senior Board Member kahit na nakakuha siya ng 32,918 mga boto laban kay Board Member Jesus James Calisin (Albay 1st District) na meron lang 28, 335 votes noong Mayo 11, 1992 eleksyon. Ito ay matapos maalis sa posisyon si Albay Governor Romeo Salalima at napalitan siya ni Vice Governor Danila Azana sa pagiging gobernador.
Ani Korte Suprema: “The COMELEC's resolution was grounded in the provisions of the Local Government Code which stipulates that the ranking of Sanggunian members for succession should be determined by the proportion of votes obtained relative to the total number of registered voters, without mention of actual voting turnout. The relevant section explicitly states that this proportionality serves as the basis for ranking, which the court observed to be clear and unambiguous”.