BY RUEL CAMBA
THE results of the recent gubernatorial race in
Pangasinan should serve as a clarion call for the incumbent leadership at
Capitol to double down on efforts to directly cater to the manifold needs of
the grassroots. In a way, the electoral outcome served as a referendum on the
professed “legacy” programs and projects of Gov. Ramon “Mon-Mon” Guico III.
These include the Pangasinan Link Expressway, Pangasinan Polytechnic College,
hospital modernization including the Guiconsulta program, Pangasinan Salt Center,
re-developlment of the Capitol area, etc. |
| Gov. Monmon Guico |
It
has become crystal clear that more Pangasinenses wanted him to proceed with the
said programs and projects than those who were opposed. But the depleted margin
the governor had eked out (96,837 votes out of 1,665,777 cast for governor)
underscores an issue that his opponent exploited to the hilt: weak foothold in
the grassroots. In 2022, challenger Ramon V. Guico III pulled out an upset
against then sitting Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. via (some said it was a landslide)
a margin of 187, 807 votes. That mandate gave him the green light to carry out his grand vision for Pangasinan. He
envisioned the province to be the “Singapore of the North”, with modernistic
features, agriculturally prosperous, a trailblazer in health care delivery and
education, a financial heavyweight, and a premier tourist Mecca.