Former 5th district Rep. Mark Cojuangco (second from left) is joined by San Quintin Mayor Clark Tiu (extreme left) and P/Sr. Supt. Marlou Chan (second from right) when he attended San Quintin’s town fiesta recently as the town’s special guest.

Provincial Board Member Clemente “Niño” Arboleda said he would not join his fellow board members who resigned from the Nationalist People’s Coalition, saying there was no valid reason for him to do so.

Arboleda told reporters on Monday that while he respected the decision of his colleagues to bolt the party, he would not leave the NPC to whom he is loyal.

“I respect their decision (because) they have their own outlook.  I hope they will also respect mine,” Arboleda, who represents the fifth district in the Provincial Board, said.

One of the reasons cited by the board members for resigning was former Fifth District Rep. Mark Cojuangco’s visits to their districts without informing them. They said Cojuangco’s action was a breach of protocol among partymates.

In contrast, Arboleda said, “the fifth district is not mine and anybody can come and go there.”

“If that is the reason, that is not valid,” he intoned.

Arboleda was in the United States when five provincial board members signed the resignation letter saying they were leaving the NPC, but that they did not contact him about the issue.

“I just read (about the resignation) in (social networking site) Facebook and other websites. I was in shock. Would I be removed as majority floorleader? But since I am a member of the Biskeg (Pangasinan) party, I am still the majority floor leader,” he said.

Last week, Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr said all of the nine NPC members who are members of the Provincial Board, but only five of them signed the letter. They were Bince, Danilo Uy, Angel Baniqued Jr., Raul Sison and Nestor Reyes.

Bince said another one has signed on Monday, but refused to give the name.

To date, NPC members Napoleon Fontelera, Antonio Sison, Mojamito Libunao and Arboleda have not joined their five colleagues in the attempted mass resignation.

The board members’ resignation letter also stated that  Cojuangco’s announcement to run for governor in the 2016 elections and remarks against Espino “caused disarray and a shift of loyalty among their followers and leaders,” which they said is detrimental to the interest of the party.

But Rosendo So, a close friend who acts as Cojuangco’s spokesperson, said there was a need to announce early because the province was very big and that it would take at least two years for any gubernatorial candidate to cover all barangays.

So said he when he accompanied Governor Amado Espino in his barangay sorties when he first run for office, they were not able to cover the entire province in a year’s time. The province has more than 1, 300 barangays.

So was a staunch   supporter of Espino, who remains a NPC member, during his campaign for governorship for three terms..

“It is not true that we are veering away from Governor Espino. But he is no longer eligible to run so the NPC is fielding Cojuangco,” he said.

So also said before going around the province, Cojuangco and he paid a courtesy call on Espino to inform him about NPC’s decision to field Cojuangco, the party’s provincial chair.

Advtg.

 

 

 

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