Ex-BM Arboleda admits regrettable decision in 2016
LINGAYEN–It was a wrong decision he made.
This was the confession of outgoing Fifth District Board Member Clemente Arboleda Jr. when he delivered his valedictory address during the final session of the 9th Sangguniang Panlalawigan on June 24.
Arboleda said he regretted not supporting then Governor Amado “Pogi” Espino and his father Amado Espino Jr., in 2016, a decision that even his wife Allysha, whose family is staunch supporter of the Espinos, expressly disapproved of. (She is a niece of former Provincial Administrator Rafael Howard Baraan who served under then Governor Amado Espino Jr., for three terms before he served as congressman of the Fifth District).
In that election, Arboleda ran for reelection for his third and final term of office with the team of former Fifth District Rep. Mark Cojuangco who eventually lost to Espino III.
He said his support for Cojuangco put him in a bind with his wife who rarely spoke to him throughout the campaign.
Arboleda thanked the Espinos for welcoming him back to the fold and for again considering him as among those in their circles of friends despite everything that happened.
Arboleda said it was the elder Espino and outgoing Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim who patiently taught him to be a more responsible public servant as a member of the Provincial Board. He credited then Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr., who encouraged him to aspire to become a majority floor leader, recalling that because of Bince’s endorsement, his colleague, BM Nestor Reyes gave way to him.
His support for Cojuangco in 2016 also led to his removal as the majority floor leader.
In the 2019 election, Arboleda supported the Espino father and son. Pogi Espino won a second term of office but the Espino patriarch lost to Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico III in the Fifth District.
Arboleda said on leaving the board, he will devote more time to his family who had been deprived of his time as a provincial official of Pangasinan for nine full years.
He said he cannot forget his peers, who treated him as their brother and former Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr. who lent their expertise so he can tackle his job more efficiently and well. (Leonardo Micua)
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