Mayor Isaias Almuete (Lakas-CMD) lost the mayorship to incumbent Vice Mayor Jesus Bareng (LDP-independent), who won overwhelmingly in the special poll in Barangay Binwangan.
Bareng was a former employee of the Department of Agrarian Reform before he became vice mayor of Dupax del Norte.
Before the Binwangan special poll, Almuete, younger brother of Land Transportation Office’s Cagayan Valley director Moises Almuete, was leading by a measly 17 votes over Bareng.
Meanwhile, outgoing Santa Fe town Mayor Teodorico Pa—dilla has dislodged incumbent board member Efren Quiben in the race for the last remaining seat for the province’s southern district in the provincial board.
Padilla garnered 440 votes against the 60 votes of Quiben in Binwangan. Before the special polls, Quiben had a 274-vote margin over Padilla.
Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena lauded the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Philippine National Police and the Army for the peaceful conduct of the special elections in Binwangan, about a three-hour drive from this capital town.
Last May 10, the Comelec declared a failure of elections in Binwangan after unidentified men snatched ballot boxes containing more than 500 ballots. — Charlie Lagasca