Mayor Olivarez hails peaceful and orderly barangay elections in Paranaque

Parañaque City Mayor Edwin L. Olivarez today lauded Monday’s peaceful and orderly elections in the city’s 16 barangays, saying it is an indication of the high level of maturity of the city’s electorate and a showcase of democracy at work.

“I congratulate the people of Parañaque for their adherence to our democratic way of life. The absence of any major untoward incident such as violence, cheating and other poll irregularities is truly something that we can all be proud of,” the mayor said.

The local Commission on Elections office said there were only minor glitches in Monday’s polling and all have been resolved in the precinct level.

In the city’s first district, the winners based on preliminary reports are:

Barangay Baclaran: Don Don Cailles, son of outgoing Barangay Chairman Rolando Cailles. The young Cailles ran for a city council seat last May but lost. In the barangay derby, he won by a margin of around 900 votes over Jun Romey and Maning Sanciego.

In Barangay Don Galo, former Kagawad Michael Philip Factor won by a margin of about 170 votes. He is the first cousin of outgoing Barangay Chairman Marilyn Burgos, and his closest rival was Michelle Gabriel, sister of incumbent city councilor Raquel Gabriel.

In La Huerta, newcomer Peter Velasco was declared winner over incumbent Chairman Ernesto Jose in a three-way fight that also included Alex Dandan.

In San Dionisio, the runaway winner is former Mayor Pablo Olivarez, father of the present mayor, who scored a landslide win over Benedict Gaspay. This is the elder Olivarez’ second term as Barangay Chairman.

In San Isidro, incumbent Eusebio Japlos successfully defended his turf in the three-way fight against Budoy Dela Cruz and Jerry Biboso, winning by more than 2,000 votes over his closest pursuer Dela Cruz. Japlos’ son Noel on the other hand topped the council race in the barangay.

In Barangay Sto. Niño, Johnny Co was declared winner to succeed outgoing Chairman Ismael De Leon who has completed three terms. Co, who ran unsuccessfully for a council seat last May, won in crowded race against Pol Neri, Nestor Ramos, Dado Portugaliza and Ermot de Leon, son of the outgoing barangay chairman.

In Barangay Tambo, incumbent Godofredo de Leon also successfully won reelection against challengers Jimmy delos Santos and Rey Gumabao.

In Barangay Vitalez, Parañaque’s smallest village, Alexander Alvarez won by landslide against Dante Santos and Eduardo Hernandez.

In the city’s second district, easily the most watched contest was for Barangay BF Homes, the country’s largest subdivision where incumbent Jeremy Marquez fended off the challenge from Richard Padilla. Marquez, son of former mayor and actor Joey Marquez, won by more than 6,000 votes against Padilla, himself a member of the famous Padilla showbiz family.

In Barangay Don Bosco, Cho Villar won in a four-cornered fight against Chona Navarro, Rommel Cruz and Jun Punsalan. Villar’s winning margin is only 50 votes over Navarro who garnered the second highest number of votes for chairman.

Barangay Marcelo Green is the only barangay where the village chief, Christopher Aguilar, ran unopposed. Barangay Marcelo Green is the city’s richest in terms of its share from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) since it hosts many industrial and commercial firms.

In Barangay Merville, the winner is Alicia Benzon, who eked out a close win against Edgar Caballero with a margin of only 84 votes. Ms Benzon is the mother of three-term City Councilor Bong Benzon who run but lost in the vice mayoral race last May.

In Barangay Moonwalk, former three-term City Councilor Carlito “Doods” Antipuesto won against incumbent Clemente Advincula and a third candidate, Neil Tugado. Antipuesto, whose third term as city councilor ended last May, is the husband of current City Councilor Merly S. Antipuesto.

In Barangay San Antonio, Jose “JR” Delima Jr. won a five-sided contest against Florante Macatangay, Jerome De Asis, Maureen Gutierrez and Joel Landicho.

In Barangay San Martin de Porres, Mithor Singson was declared winner over Mar Verona and Romeo Medes. Mithor is the son of outgoing Barangay Chairman Thelma Singson.

Finally, Barangay Sun Valley reelected its incumbent Barangay Chairman, Daniel Santos, who was challenged by Mar Manliclic, Ligaya Velasquez and Ben Altarejos.