Noynoy's girlfriend Valenzuela's No. 1 councilor

MANILA, Philippines - Shalani Soledad, girlfriend of presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, is the top choice for the Valenzuela City council seat.

Soledad was proclaimed Tuesday as Valenzuela City number one councilor garnering a total vote of 79,558 or 4,747 more than the second winning candidate Kate Abigail Galang-Ceseteng, 74,811. They both belong to the second district.

Other council winners in the second district were Ma. Cecilia Mayo, 56,677 votes; Lailani Nolasco, 54,242; Lorena Natividad-Borja, 52,218; and Adrian Dapat, 51,412 votes.

Winners in the first district were Richie Cuadra with 57,259 votes; Catherine Pineda, 52,985; Antonio Espiritu, 52,985; Gerald Esplana, 47,831; Corazon Cortez, 47,214; and Marlon Alejandrino, 44,598 votes.

Of the 12 proclaimed councilors, five are men with the women having a dominant figure of seven.

Also proclaimed winners were incumbent Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, with 163,999 votes, his younger brother Rex Gatchalian still the representative of the first district, garnering a total of 74,997 votes, and incumbent Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo with 64,496 votes.

Eric Martinez was proclaimed winner of the vice mayoralty seat with 83,279 votes.

Soledad, like Aquino, belongs to the Liberal Party (LP), but majority of the winning councilors belong to the ticket of Gatchalian, a Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) candidate.