LINGAYEN—Seven Genuine Opposition bets, three from Team Unity and two independent candidates are so far in the Magic 12 for the senatorial elections in Pangasinan based on the  tabulation from the Provincial Board of Canvassers as of 4:00 p.m. Friday. The list, based on complete results from 45 towns and…

THEY were bitter enemies during the campaign, but both candidates have proven to be gentlemen and statesmen in both victory and defeat. Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim has conceded defeat to House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. who won by a wide margin in the fourth district congressional race. In…

Alipio Fernandez Jr. has returned as mayor of Dagupan. And with majority of his team elected alongside him, he has vowed to move the city forward. Fernandez, who served as mayor from 1992 to 2001 after which he was appointed immigration commissioner, said the new city administration that will take…

STA. BARBARA—Retired police Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco was proclaimed winner on Wednesday by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in the hotly fought mayoralty race here. Velasco garnered a total of 15,827 votes against his rival Carlito Zaplan, who got 12,441. Winning with Velasco were his vice mayor and six…

DAGUPAN’S WINNERS—Newly-elected officials of Dagupan headed by Mayor-elect Al Fernandez and Vice Mayor-elect Belen Fernandez are proclaimed by members of the City Board of Canvassers led by Atty. Vanessa Roncal (fifth from left). The other elected officials are, from left, Jesus Canto, Michael Fernandez, Farah Decano, Librada Reyna, Alfie Fernandez,…

Finds no Omnibus Election Law violation THE Commission on Elections, in an en banc resolution, has cleared Speaker Jose de Venecia and the Lakas Christian-Muslim Democrats (Lakas CMD) of vote-buying charges. The en banc decision was promulgated late Thursday afternoon, removing what Lakas CMD legal counsel Raul Lambino described from…

LINGAYEN-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz has, for the record, stressed that he is not endorsing any candidate.  “I did not really endorse Mayor Lim,” Cruz told The PUNCH following a press release issued by Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim, who is running for the fourth district congressional seat, claiming that the…

SAN CARLOS CITY–Is the big fish lurking behind the small fry? Top-gun lawyers reportedly sent by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) arrived last week to extend assistance to Angelito Soriano, the arrested suspect in the murder of Mayor Julian Resuello on April 28. This raised suspicion among the family…

The lawyer in the disqualification case against House Speaker Jose De Venecia has cried foul and is accusing the Commission on Election of a biased decision. Lawyer Francisco Baraan III said he will formally file an impeachment case against Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos and the Comelec commissioners who signed the…