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Polls 2016: Dynasties fall; Marcoses tighten political grip in Ilocos Norte

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Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. checks the receipt of his vote in Batac City. (PIA-Ilocos Norte photo)





By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter

LAOAG CITY—Several political dynasties fell; some remained in power; and almost all of the Marcos-anointed candidates won.

At least 10 of the 23 mayoralty posts in the province have changed hands; five have returned to their old posts; and eight ran unopposed.

Laoag City vice mayor-Michael V. Fariñas and the winning council members. (Doms dela Cruz)
80% turnout
WITH a voter turnout of more than 80 percent—309,755 voted out of the 378,786 total registered voters in the province—the Nacionalista Party in the province, led by Ilocos Norte Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos, garnered the most wins in the mayoralty race.

Ms. Marcos and incumbent Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Eugenio Angelo M. Barba ran unopposed.

Marcoses tighten political grip
Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc, son of Ms. Marcos, emerged as the senior board member at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan by garnering the most number of votes. Though a political neophyte, Mr. Manotoc trounced erstwhile senior board member Ria Christina Fariñas. Ms. Fariñas got the second highest number of votes. Mr. Manotoc represents the province’s second district while Ms. Fariñas is from the first district.

Former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos secured her re-election bid as the second district representative; as did Rep. Rodolfo C. Fariñas in the first district.

Solsona, Paoay have new mayors
In a tight mayoralty race in Solsona, town councilor Alex Calucag won over incumbent Mayor Jonathan de Lara. 

Solsona is one of the eight towns here declared as election watch list areas (EWAs) by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) owing to election-related incidents that happened here. Among the incidents include Mr. Calucag’s attempted murder by still unidentified armed men when he along with his police bodyguard was ambushed on broad daylight in Solsona last year.

In Paoay, Vice Mayor Jessie Galano engaged in a neck-to-neck race against former Paoay Mayor Bonifacio Clemente. Mr. Galano won by a few hundreds of votes.

Mr. Galano’s political rise can be attributed to his long time support to the Marcoses and the Paoay’s Clemente political clan. His relationship with the Clementes became estranged, however, in the run-up to the May 2016 elections.

Batac’s mayor is not a Nalupta
Batac City mayor-elect Albert Chua is proclaimed by local election officers. (Doms dela Cruz)
The long stranglehold of the Nalupta political clan in Batac was broken. Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Albert D. Chua won an intense election race against incumbent Batac Vice Mayor Ronald Allan M. Nalupta.

Outgoing Batac Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta, however, ran unopposed for the vice mayoralty post.

Badoc’s Torralbas lose
In Badoc, the husband and wife team of Thomas and Arlene Torralba lost the posts they have been swapping with each other for years.

Former Badoc councilor Maximo Cajigal and his running mate Alwyn Rubio won as mayor and vice mayor, respectively.

Other new mayors
In Pasuquin, incumbent Mayor Felix Aguinaldo Jr. lost to his brother Ferdinand by over 2,000 votes. 

Other new mayors include former Sarrat Vice Mayor Remigio Medrano in Sarrat; Larisa Foronda in Vintar, Rosalia Dupagen in Adams, Fidel Cimatu in Bangui and Georgina Salazar-Guillen in Piddig.

Returning mayors
San Nicolas mayor-elect Boying Valdez leads the election winners in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte. (Doms dela Cruz)
The towns of Burgos, Currimao, Dumalneg, Nueva Era and San Nicolas welcome the return of their former mayors: Rodolfo Garcia in Burgos; Rosario Go in Currimao; Francis Espiritu in Dumalneg; Caroline A. Garvida in Nueva Era; and Alfredo “Boying” P. Valdez Jr in San Nicolas. 

Re-elected mayors
Pagudpud re-elects Mayor Marlon Sales. (Doms dela Cruz)
Re-elected mayors are Nicomedes dela Cruz in Bacarra; Carlito Abadilla Jr. in Banna; Erdio Valenzuela in Dingras; Arsenio Agustin in Marcos; Marlon Sales in Pagudpud; Samuel Pagdilao in Pinili; Rene Gaspar in Carasi and Chevylle V. Fariñas in here Laoag City.

Glitches
The elections, though generally peaceful, was marred by several machine glitches. Vote-buying and harassment were also reported to the police. The


As of press time, the Provincial Board of Canvassers have yet to receive all election returns from various precincts due to poor internet signal. Local election officials however have proclaimed several winning candidates.
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