House Speaker Jose de Venecia is confident about pulling off a victory but is not taking his campaign lightly either.

“I want to run scared. I want to work very hard,” said De Venecia who is seeking a third term for the congressional seat in the 4th district and, unlike in the two previous elections where he was unopposed, is being challenged by Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim

De Venecia said he is ready “to sing and dance and kiss babies and even older ladies” when he goes on a serious campaign, adding “Now I will sing and dance again, our cha-cha music (his campaign music) is nice, and I’m very happy”.

De Venecia’s confidence stems from the strong backing of local officials and candidates in the district.

 “Their (Lim’s camp) problem is they cannot put up their slate in the different towns and city in the fourth district,” De Venecia said.

Lim is running under the PDP-Laban banner while de Venecia is the president of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats.

When De Venecia filed his certificate of candidacy, Mayors Mojamito Libunao, Herminio Romero, Rolando Columbres Sr., and Napoleon Sales of San Fabian, Mangaldan, San Jacinto and Manaoag, respectively, as well as resigned Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. and local mall magnate Belen Fernandez, candidates for Dagupan City mayor and vice mayor, respectively, as hundreds of supporters accompanied him in a 1.5- kilometer long motorcade going to the Commission on Election office.

Lim braves battle vs. De Vencia

“AN uphill battle”.

This was how Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim described his race for the 4th district congressional seat against re-electionist House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. 

Lim, former chairman of the city’s Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats’ chapter, is now running under the PDP-Laban banner while political giant De Venecia, Lakas president, will be carrying the administration’s party.

De Venecia run in the last two elections virtually unopposed.

After months of agonizing, Lim says he now feels relaxed because prior to his decision, there were “always these thousands of voices telling me that I should run”.

“And now that I have filed, maybe these voices will be silenced,” he added.

Lim said he has no slate yet for mayors in the towns and city in the fourth district

“Ang taong bayan ang siyang talagang boses ng bayan kaya hindi ako nag-iisa,” he said.—EVA

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