Lakas leaders in Tarlac begin making peace with NPC rivals

TARLAC CITY — Elected leaders of the administration’s Lakas-CMD (Christian-Muslim Democrats) in Tarlac have initiated moves to bury the hatchet, so to speak, with stalwarts of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) whom they had battled in the recent elections.

Last Friday, as the province was celebrating its 131st founding anniversary, re-elected Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan reached out the hand of political reconciliation to Gov. Jose Yap when he paid a courtesy call at the provincial capitol.

Catacutan chairs the Lakas-CMD in Tarlac’s third congressional district, while Yap heads the NPC in the province.

Although the local NPC reaffirmed its alliance with the administration party and campaigned for President Arroyo’s bid for a fresh six-year mandate, the local Lakas-CMD decided to challenge Yap’s re-election by putting up a complete slate in the entire province.

Because of this, the NPC in the third district, headed by Rep. Jesli Lapus, also fielded candidates against the Lakas-CMD bets.

Catacutan beat NPC mayoral candidate Romeo Cayanan.

The Lakas-CMD’s local leadership backed the gubernatorial bid of ex-officio provincial board member Isaias Apostol, president of the Philippine Councilors’ League-Tarlac chapter, against Yap.

Apostol, however, miserably lost to Yap, garnering only 69,978 votes against the re-electionist governor’s 309,628.

This, even as Apostol was supported by Interior and Local Government Undersecretary, former Tarlac governor Margarita "Tingting" Cojuangco, and her nephew, Tarlac second district Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, the only son of former President Corazon Aquino.

Except in the towns of Capas and Ramos, all of the Lakas-CMD’s mayoral bets in the province’s 17 towns were defeated by NPC candidates.

Yap said Catacutan vowed to support him and his administration’s programs and projects in the next three years. Yap is in his third and last term.

Joining Catacutan in his courtesy call were newly elected Capas vice mayor, lawyer Roseller Rodriguez, who ran under the banner of the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) of jailed former President Joseph Estrada, and the new members of the Capas municipal council.