Angeles emerging as election ‘hot spot’

ANGELES CITY — Political tension in this Central Luzon city heightened yesterday as the regional Commission on Elections (Comelec) director created a special task force for the registration and revalidation of voters after local Comelec officials hid in fear after the killing of their colleague last Friday.

Comelec director Artemio Lambino told The STAR he will also pull out the registration centers that were set up in a mall owned here by the politically influential Nepomuceno family.

Tension has mounted between the camps of Mayor Carmelo Lazatin (Lakas-CMD) and Rep. Francis Nepomuceno (NPC) who is running for reelection and his younger brother Robin Nepomuceno who is running for mayor in next year’s polls. Lazatin plans to seek either a third term as mayor or a three year term as congressman.

This developed as the computer revalidation and registration of voters here were delayed for days after the Angeles Electric Corp. (AEC), also owned by the Nepomuceno clan, cut off power to city hall Thursday last week.

AEC claimed the city government’s failed to pay its electricity bills amounting to some P6.3 million.

Power was restored at about 2 p.m. last Monday after Mayor Carmelo Lazatin obtained a mandatory injunction from the local court.

The STAR tried but failed to get in touch with a representative of the Nepomuceno family to get their reaction.

Lambino created the special task force after Comelec city registrar Cora Jane Baleros and her staff refused to report for work after her assistant Ponciano Palo was fatally shot by a still unidentified gunman at his residence in Barangay Sto. Domingo last Friday night.

Baleros and other local Comelec personnel witnessed the shooting.

Political observers here alleged that Palo was "close" to Lazatin as Baleros was to the Nepomucenos.