Pasay mayor, congressman trade places

Pasay City Mayor Allan Panaligan and Rep. Consuelo "Connie" Dy are set to trade places this coming elections.

Panaligan will run for congress, while Dy will run for mayor. Both had filed their certificates of candidacy yesterday at the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office.

Panaligan and Dy will be running under the banner of the Kampi party. Their running mates are Marlon Pesebre, RJ Cabrera, Grace Santos, Johnny Santiago, Rey Mateo and Gina Catalan as councilors for District 1; and Lei Tolentino, Linda Hilario, Joven Claudio, Reggie Lim, Jim Baliad and Ian Vendivel for District 2.

Prior to filing of their COC’s, Panaligan and partymates attended a Mass at the Sta. Clara de Montefalco Parish in Libertad at around 11 a.m. They were accompanied by close to a thousand supporters.

The group of Panaligan and Dy will have as their campaign theme, "Isang Pangkat, Isang Direksiyon."

Dy, who was accompanied by her husband and children, said that if she is elected, she will pursue reforms needed to give better service to the residents.

She stressed that even before she decided to run as mayor, she was always concerned of the situation in the city, especially health issues.

Dy recently made possible the donation of modern equipment and supplies to the Pasay City General Hospital.

For his part, Mayor Panaligan, who is seeking the lone congressional seat, said he will continue all the reforms and programs that he started under his administration to give better service to the people.

Panaligan said that in the coming school year, they will distribute free school supplies and shoes to all public school students from Grade 1 to fourth year high school. An estimated 55,000 students are expected to benefit from the said project.

Panaligan and Tolentino, former councilors, were installed as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, following the dismissal order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman against former mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad, former vice mayor Antonino Calixto and eight councilors for allegedly approving a P464.6 million worth of illegal garbage collection and disposal contracts in 2004 to 2005. – Rhodina Villanueva