Let bygone, be bygone; 3 media men meet their Waterloo

After the months’ political skirmishes, could all the protagonists and antagonists bury the hatchet? Or smoke the peace pipe? Or simply say Let bygone, Be bygone?

Impossible, you may say but for me, there’s always hope for all things in the hands of the Mighty God.


Of the two rival political clans in Ilocos Norte and Laoag City, at least five Marcoses and three Fariñases won in different government posts in the recently-concluded midyear elections.

To wit, Matthew Marcos Manotoc was elected as governor, his aunt Cecilia Marcos as vice governor, his uncle Michael Marcos Keon as city mayor of Laoag and his uncle Angelo Marcos Barba as second district congressman.

On the other hand, Ria Fariñas won as first district congresswoman, her brother Rodolfo Christian as the first district provincial board member and her cousin Roger John “RJ” Fariñas II as reelected city councilor of Laoag.

In the national scene, outgoing Governor Imee Marcos is a most-likely winner in the senatorial race while the Probinsyano Ako, which is also in the lead pack of the winning party lists, is headed by a relative of outgoing first district Congressman Rodolfo C. Fariñas.

RCF, their patriarch, withdrew from the gubernatorial race days prior to the election day.

In Laoag, a pair of nephew-uncle won at the same time as city councilors, namely, Justin Chua, a re-electionist, and his uncle Edison Chua, an ex-SP member. Also, city council winners are Handy Lao, a re-electionist, and past SP member Derick Lao. We’re unsure if the two Laos are relatives too as nephew and uncle.

Some observers may be curious about the pairs’ secret strategy on how to win votes every now and then.

In Batac, the Chua brothers now hold the two top posts of the city. Mayor Albert Chua was reelected and his elder brother former vice governor-provincial administrator Windell Chua won as vice mayor.

Mayor Albert knew at the outset that his brother would surely win coz his name Windell speaks for itself, a joke says.

In Currimao town, incumbent Mayor Gladys Go-Cue lost to Edward “Boyet” Quilala, son of the late former mayor Cirilo Quilala who owned the decades-old D’ Coral beach resort.

The Go family that ruled the town for many years was not glad of Gladys’ defeat.


3 MEDIAMEN UNLUCKY. Our colleagues from the print and broadcast media met their Waterloo in the recent political battle. The trio may be vanquished but they remain as an icon in the journalistic profession.

Jay Ramos, publisher-CEO of Ilocos Times campaigned hard yet he got the voters’ thumbs down. (He visibly joined Mayor Chevylle Fariñas and party as he shook hands with me and my wife Nannette during their campaign sortie in our urban barangay and nearby places.)

Melvin de la Cuesta, publisher-editor of Northern Light Weekly, failed to land a seat in the provincial board’s first district. While other losers may sport a sour face, Melvin, in contrast, could take defeat lightly.

Rodrigo “Rod” Sadian, news anchor-commentator of DZEA, suffered anew a bitter debacle in his repeated bid for town councilor in his Paoay hometown.

I’m sure Rod doesn’t know how to be sad over his defeat although his surname Sadian may sound like it.

Luckier is erstwhile Bombo radio ace reporter Joey Apostol of Dingras town. He won a seat in the Sangguniang Bayan for the second time around after a lull in politics.

Joey, I imagined, is full of joy.


POLICE-FULL. Col. Cesar Pasiwen, the police provincial director, assessed the province as generally peaceful during the poll period. Unlike other outside places, no political violence marred the local polls here coz every nook and corner was practically “police-full”.

Meaning many lawmen armed to the teeth heavily guarded all hot spots which contributed to none serious violence.


POST-ELECTION BROUHAHA. Almost all losing candidates accused their winning rivals of vote-buying and fraud.

Others blamed the Counting Machines as the alleged high-tech culprit. The militant group also decried “it was a rigged election”.#