LINGAYEN—Sixth District Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr., the longest serving board member in the province, has had it as the lone opposition and has joined the bandwagon.

In a privilege speech delivered on Monday, Bince announced that he was quitting as minority leader, a role he has held throughout his 17 years of service under five governors.

BINCE

Bince, however, clarified that the provincial board will not be “a rubber stamp” legislative body that will yield to all the ideas and proposals of Governor Amado Espino Jr.

“I will continue to speak out my mind on matters which I think should redound to the welfare of our people,” he said.

He added that it doesn’t mean that when he shelved his oppositionist stance, he will no longer speak against what he feels is wrong.

“Rest assured that like you, we will have our minds open and our thoughts open for what is best for the province,” he told his fellow board members.

Being the lone opposition in the board, he said he decided to “join the majority so that I could be assured of passage of ordinances that I will intend to file so I can be of greater help to the people”.

Bince stressed that his turnaround is purely his own decision but there are reports from Lingayen capitol sources that he was prompted to join the majority because he had been encountering delays in the release of his development funds being in the opposition.

He admitted that a year ago, when Espino, a retired police colonel, assumed his post as governor, he had reservations against him being the top leader of Pangasinan.

“I became the devil’s advocate to some of his programs and omissions. I tried to find faults in his acts,” Bince said.

After a year, he said Espino, with his hands-on management style, proved him wrong in his fears about his capability to lead the province.

He said he became an admirer of the governor when he gave importance to the board members by giving them, for the first time ever, decent and elegant offices in the newly-refurbished Capitol building.#

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