Alayon Party to unveil entire slate next month

CEBU, Philippines -  The complete slate for the mayoralty, vice mayoralty, and councilor of the Alayon Party for the 2013 midterm elections will most likely be revealed next month, Alayon chairman and president Rep. Eduardo Gullas said yesterday.

The first district comprises Talisay, Carcar, and Naga cities and the towns of Minglanilla, San Fernando, and Sibonga. 

Gullas, who is on his third and last term as district representative, said he will reveal his decision whether to run again for mayor in Talisay City next month.

“By next month, we will announce,” Gullas said, who was mayor of Talisay from 2001 to 2004 after serving three terms in Congress.

In Talisay City, Mayor Socrates Fernandez, Vice Mayor Alan Bucao, and majority of the city councilors belong to the administration party of Gullas.

Currently, Fernandez, being on his third term, is no longer illegible to run for mayor in next year’s elections, fueling rumors that Gullas will vie for the post.

In the town of Minglanilla, Mayor Eduardo Selma and Vice Mayor Elanito Peña are on their third and last term. Peña was reportedly taking over the mayoralty position while Selma’s son, municipal Councilor Robert John Selma, will be running for vice mayor. 

Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong and Vice Mayor Delfin Señor, and Carcar City Mayor Nicepuro Apura and Vice Mayor Mario Patrick Barcenas will be seeking for re-election. 

In Sibonga, Mayor Lionel Bacaltos and Vice mayor Azucena Sesaldo will also seek re-election. 

They said no one has manifested any intention to run against them.

But in the town of San Fernando, it is seen that there will be a rematch between former mayor Lakambini Reluya and Mayor Antonio Canoy. 

Canoy defeated Reluya in the town’s mayoral race by 936 votes — at least in 10 clustered precincts representing 20 percent of the municipality’s total votes cast in the May 2010 elections.

Reluya, who is identified with Alayon, lost the mayoral race after getting only 14,055 votes while Canoy, who belongs to Liberal Party, garnered 15,329 votes, or a margin of 1,274.

Reluya alleged that the first automated election in their town was marred by fraud, such as pre-shaded ballots, disorderly distribution of priority numbers, and unauthorized affixing of thumb marks.

But a few days after the elections, Reluya lodged an election protest with the RTC and sought a recount of the election returns from the town’s 49 clustered precincts.