Arroyo kin gunning anew for LMP presidency

CALASIAO, Pangasinan — Mayor Ramon Guico Jr. of Binalonan town, a cousin of President Arroyo, was re-elected president of the Pangasinan Mayors’ League (PML) when 35 of the province’s 44 town mayors chose their new set of officers last Thursday.

With Guico’s new mandate, Pangasinan mayors are hoping that he will be able to wrest anew the national presidency of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) sometime next month.

Mrs. Arroyo has reportedly given her go-signal to Guico to run for LMP president anew.

Aside from Guico, those who ran unopposed in the PML elections were Malasiqui Mayor Alfonso Soriano as executive vice president, and Mayors Gabriel Navarro (Bani), Ernesto Castañeda (Lingayen), Roy Macanlalay (Calasiao), Mojamito Libunao (San Fabian), Dionisio Lagmay (Sison) and Salvador Perez (San Manuel) as vice presidents for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth districts, respectively.

Also elected were Mayors Leocadio de Vera Jr. (Bayambang), secretary-general; Jeanne Jinky Zaplan (Sta. Barbara), treasurer; Ricardo Revita (Rosales), auditor; Jose Ferdinand Calimlim (Mapan—dan), PRO; Simplicio Rosario (Binmaley), sergeant-at-arms; and Carlos Trece Mapili (Tayug), Do—mingo Doctor (Burgos), Manuel Collado (Alcala), Nestor Pulido (Anda) and Rolando Columbres (San Jacinto), directors.

Guico thanked the mayors for their renewed trust and confidence in his leadership and vowed to do his best to retain the LMP national presidency.

He was grateful to De Vera who again gave up his bid for the PML presidency to preserve unity among the mayors.

De Vera earlier told The STAR that he was not pursuing his bid again "with due respect to my mentor, (former Sto. Tomas) Mayor Bebot Villar."

He said he was willing to sacrifice his personal ambition so that the rapport of the Pangasinan mayors with President Arroyo would go on smoothly with Guico serving as their "bridge" for projects in their respective towns.

De Vera, who is now on his third and final term as mayor, said perhaps the PML presidency was not meant for him, although he expressed hope that with Guico’s help, his town would see improvements. — With Cesar Ramirez