Truck driver beats ex-mayor in barangay polls
STA. MARIA—This town witnessed a stunning upset in the recent (May 14) barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections.
The local Comelec office reported that Segundino ‘Jojo’ Esquijo, 50, a truck driver, defeated former mayor Pinky Odero Ginez in Barangay Mariano here, with a margin of 29 votes.
Esquijo got 228 votes against Ginez’s 199, the Comelec tally showed.
Running with no political machine behind him except a painstaking house-to-house campaign, Esquijo was in tears when the election tally showed him the clear winner.
Although tacitly supported by Mayor Teddy Ramos, Esquijo won through sheer campaign appeal and his promise of a work-driven administration.
Esquijo’s campaign strategy, according to observers, was his promise to “use all his waking hours for the progress and peace of the barangay”.
Elected barangay kagawads are: Erwin Mendillo, Benjie Surrel, Danilo Cardenas, Servillano dela Cruz, Renato Rey, Ferdinand Orbillo and Elizabeth Pasion.
Ginez is the wife former mayor Choi Ginez. The Ginez couple, Choi and Pinky, had ruled the town for more than 20 years.
Their long political hold of Sta. Maria ended when Ramos won the race for mayor in 2010. (Contributed by JV)
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