CALASIAO—Raul Sison, a municipal councilor of Urbiztondo, has been elected president of the Philippine Councilors’ League (PCL) Pangasinan chapter in a tight race Tuesday.

As PCL head, Sison will become a board member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as a sectoral representative in an ex-officio capacity effective September.

He said he will do his best to become “a true voice of the councilors in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan”.

SISON

Sison, now on his fifth term as councilor, received 243 votes, beating Pozorrubio Councilor Dennis Uy, with 202 votes, and Basista Councilor Orlando de Guzman, three votes.

“We fought an honorable fight,” Sison said in a press conference Wednesday here.

Sison attributed his victory to his regular visits to his fellow councilors around the province immediately after the May 14 elections to discuss his proposed programs.

“I want them to feel that I am sincere in dealing with them,” he said.

He also appealed to them to give other candidates from other districts a chance at the position as 99% of those who had served as PCL president since its creation in 1990 came from the fifth district.

He appealed to all the 476 municipal and city councilors of Pangasinan to forget party lines since election is over and instead work together for the betterment of their organization and its members.

PROXY WAR

Meanwhile, Sison’s and Uy’s intense rivalry was seen as a proxy war between the combined forces of Reps. Mark Cojuangco and Conrado Estrella III of the fifth and sixth districts, respectively, and the partylist ABONO, a Pangasinan-based group that supported Uy’s bid. Governor Amado Espino Jr. reportedly rallied behind Sison.

Sison, in an interview with The PUNCH immediately after he won the elections, denied that Espino had a hand in his election although he admitted that he sought the blessings of the governor in his bid.

Uy is the son of outgoing PCL president Danilo Uy, who was elected to the provincial board in the May election.

During the campaign for the PCL polls, intrigues and accusation flew around that money from jueteng and illegal drugs were allegedly used by some aspirants.

Both Sison and Uy brushed aside the rumours.

The other newly elected officers are Maria Isabel Villacorta (executive vice president), Cheryl Bascos (secretary-general), Rose Marcella (treasurer), Cirilo Radoc (auditor), Manuel Resuello (PRO), Jose Carrera Jr. (Business Manager), and Board of Directors are Jocelyn Visaya, Dante de Castro, Mildred Marcela, Cecil Celeste, Alexander Parayno, Dyna de Guzman, Noel Bautista and Rey Dotimas. #

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