By Leonardo Micua

 

ANALYZING why former Mayor Belen Fernandez won the election in Dagupan City by a huge margin of more than 14,000 votes, we found out that it was the ‘One Bonuan’ vote that spelled her victory over incumbent Mayor Brian Lim.

Not that I am from Bonuan but it was really the votes of the people in the three barangays of Bonuan Gueset, Bonuan Binloc and Bonuan Boquig that doomed Lim’s chances for a second term in office. How can Belen lose if she has the ‘One Bonuan’ vote?

The three Bonuan barangays gave the former mayor 15,776 votes against the incumbent mayor’s 13,322 votes or a 2,454 vote cushion.

But based on the election tally, it was Barangay Lucao that gave Fernandez the biggest lead over her opponent, 2,839. Lucao, where Fernandez resides and where her mall and other diverse businesses are located, gave her 5,142 votes against Lim’s 2,249 votes.

Bonuan Gueset, the biggest barangay not only in Dagupan but in Pangasinan and Region 1 in terms of population, gave Belen a 1,673 vote advantage over the incumbent mayor, something not to sneeze at.

She garnered 7,430 votes while Lim could only account for 5,757 votes. In the 2019 elections where Fernandez lost to Lim in the overall count, Bonuan Gueset coddled Lim even if the barangay chairman there, Noel Balolong Bumanglag, is the husband of her younger sister Caroline.

Political analysts used to say that whoever wins in Bonuan, meaning all of Bonuan, could win the whole of Dagupan City. In the case of former Mayor Fernandez, she won it with aplomb. She finally delivered the coup de grace by topping in the other vote-rich barangays of Pantal, Malued, Caranglaan, and Lucao.

In the 2019 polls, where then incumbent Mayor Fernandez lost to Lim by 1,239 votes, Pantal, Malued and Caranglaan all gave Lim the upper hand. But the situation was reversed by Fernandez in these big barangays.

Latest election update showed Fernandez won in 25 barangays and lost to Lim by only slim margin in Barangays Pogo Grande, Salisay, Mayombo, Herrero, Barangay II and Barangay  IV.

But sadly, only three of Belen’s candidates and of Vice Mayor Bryan Kua’s candidates for councilors came out in this election.

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In Pangasinan, the forces of outgoing Governor Amado Espino III under the Abante Pangasinan Ilokano (API)/PDP-Laban still holds the majority in the new Sangguniang Panlalawigan when it convenes its first legislative session in July. 

This as four provincial board members who run under API political party were re-elected while there were four new faces also affiliated with API that got elected.

In addition, the API legislators can still count on the support of two ex-officio board members. Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial Federfation President Jinky Zaplan and Sangguniang Kabataan Provincial Federation president Jerome Vic Espino.

The reelected SP members under the API party were Chinky Perez-Tababa and Louie Sison, both of the fifth district; Noel Bince and Salvador Perez, both of the sixth district.

Their party mates who will join the SP are Noy de Guzman and Jerry Rosario, both of the Fourth District; Shiela Baniqued of the Third District and Haidee Pacheco of the Second District. 

Only one SP board member from the opposition was reelected. Vici Ventanilla of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) of the Third District . He run under the ticket of Governor-elect Ramon Guico III.

The other winning SP candidates aligned with Guico and reelected Vice Governor Mark Lambino were Nong Fontelera and Apple Bacay of the First dDstrict, both of the Nacionalista Party; and Philip Theodore Cruz of the Second district, who run under the NPC.

The incumbent provincial board members who did not make it in this election were Margielou Orange Humilde of the First District (API);  and Von Mark Mendoza of the Second District (NPC).

Other incumbent board members who did not seek reelection were Jeremy Agerico Rosario of the Fourth District who run and won as mayor of Manaoag town and Liberato Villegas who run for mayor of San Fabian but lost. 

In the case of Third District Board Member Angel Baniqued Jr., he opted not to run for re-election and gave way to his wife Shiela who topped the election for two-man SP members seat in the Third District. 

Second District Board Member Nestor Reyes lost in his bid to become the next vice governor in tandem with incumbent Governor Espino. 

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