Espino’s allies dump NPC
FIRST BLOOD DRAWN
FORMER Fifth District Congressman Mark Cojuangco fired the first shot early this year to signal the start of a political scramble for power when he announced his bid for the governorship post that Gov. Amado Espino Jr. will vacate.
But it didn’t take long for Espino’s allies at the provincial board to draw first blood by resigning en masse from the Nationalist People’s Coalition where Cojuangco holds sway as provincial chairman.
Sixth District Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr. led his colleagues in resigning from NPC effective June 1, 2014 as gleaned in a letter they intend to send to NPC Chairman Faustino Dy and party chairman Francisco San Juan.
The other signatories are Board Member Raul Sison and Nestor Reyes of the second district, Angel Baniqued Jr. of the third district, and Danilo Uy of the fifth district.
The two other who signed are Napoleon Fontelera and Antonio Sison, both of the first district.
Expected to add his signature to the resignation is Fifth District Board Member Clemente Arboleda Jr. who is in the United States.
Meanwhile BM Mojamito Libunao reportedly begged off to sign because he has yet to make up his mind if he will run for re-election or make a bid to reclaim his old post as mayor of San Fabian.
In their letter of resignation, the board members wrote: “We the undersigned members of the provincial board of Pangasinan who are also with the NPC would like to inform your good selves (Dy and San Juan) that we are resigning from the party effective June 1, 2014.
“We believe that this action of ours is for the benefit of the party,” the board members said, citing the ongoing political confrontation between the two most powerful politicians in the province, Gov. Espino and Cojuangco as the central issue.
They said the early announcement of Cojuangco to run in the election of 2016 for the position of mayor and his “unwarranted and seditious remarks against Gov. Espino has caused realignment of loyalties among the followers and leaders of the party.
Cojuangco, they noted, has been making the rounds in all the districts without the courtesy of informing the district board members who are his partymates, a move they consider as a breach of protocol.
Meanwhile, Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan clarified that the governor did not have a hand in the mass resignation but cited the disgruntlement and disappointment of the board members when Cojuangco announced his candidacy for governor in the May 2016 polls.
He said the board members acted independently and even cited the governor’s earlier plea to focus on the work to be done and not be distracted by politics.
Baraan, however, did not say if Espino will also eventually bolt the NPC and when but Bince gave a hint with his statement “where ever the governor goes, we will go”.
Baraan also defended the resigned board members decision when he felt Cojuangco had insulted them by attributing their resignation to their complete dependence on the governor. “It’s not good,” he said.
Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim is also NPC member is in the United States and could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Rosendo So, a close ally of Cojuangco, said anyone is free to join and leave the party and described the resignation as one of the normal developments in any political contest. (LVM, Tita Roces).
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