Cagayan’s political clans to rule 13 towns

By Villamor Visaya Jr.

TUGUEGARAO CITY––At least 13 towns in Cagayan province will be governed in the next three years by local leaders who are either husbands and wives, fathers and their children, siblings, or members of a dominant political clan who dominated the recently concluded local elections.
    In Solana town, Mayor Jennalyn Carag and her husband, Vice Mayor Meynard Carac, won their reelection bids.
Jennalyn received 36,011 votes against her lone opponent, Ricardo Capalungan, who got 982 votes, while Meynard was unopposed and got 31,651 votes.
    In Allacapan, Mayor Harry Florida and his wife Yvonne, the vice mayor, had no rivals in their reelection bids, but still got over 13,000 votes each.
    The husband-and-wife tandem of Mayor Vincent Unite and Vice Mayor Violeta Unite of Ballesteros town edged out their opponents to emerge the winners.
    In Peñablanca town, Mayor Washington Taguinod and wife Vice Mayor Marilyn Taguinod got another term.
    In Lal-lo, returning Mayor Florante Pascual won alongside his running mate-wife, Olive, an outgoing provincial board member. Their son, outgoing Mayor Oliver Pascual, won a seat on the provincial board.
    In Iguig, reelectionist couple Ferdinand and Juditas Trinidad won handily over opponents for mayor and vice mayor, respectively.
Switches
In Rizal town, returning mayor Joel Ruma also won with his wife, Mayor Brenda Ruma, who slid down as vice mayor.
    In Buguey, brothers Cerry and Lloyd Antiporda won as mayor and vice mayor, respectively. Three-termer Lloyd switched posts with Cerry.
    Tuao will also see in June the same officials because Francisco Mamba Jr., the mayor, and brother William, the vice mayor, just switched places and won by a landslide.
    Lawyer Cristina Antonio won anew as Alcala mayor while her stepmother, Digna Puzon-Antonio (former Gov. Alvaro Antonio’s second wife) won as Pamplona mayor.
    Cagayan Rep. Ramon Nolasco Jr. was reelected after defeating Juan Ponce Enrile’s daughter, Katrina, and Roberto Damian in the first district while his brother, Mayor Matthew Nolasco, won as Gattaran vice mayor.
    In Santo Niño town, Mayor Vicente Pagurayan was reelected, along with his son, Andrew Vincent, as his vice mayor.
    Gov. Manuel Mamba won his third consecutive term over Zarah Lara. But Mamba’s wife, Mabel, lost to reelectionist Third District Rep. Joseph Lara, the husband of Zarah.
    Vice Gov. Melvin Vargas Jr. was also reelected, while his uncle, reelectionist Abulug town Mayor Manuel Vargas, was unopposed.
    Meanwhile, in Sanchez Mira, a retired Army general defeated a member of a ruling political clan here in the May 9 elections.
    Abraham Bagasin, 63, won the mayoral race with 7,362 votes, beating Dr. Connie Marie Sacramed, wife of Cagayan provincial administrator Darwin Sacramed and daughter-in-law of Mayor Asela Sacramed. Connie Marie obtained 6,075 votes.
    Bagasin was officially proclaimed the winner on Tuesday, May 10.
    Mayor Asela, however, won as vice mayor with 7,334 votes, edging out Bagasin’s running mate, Dr. Michael Asanias, who got 6,229 votes.
    Sanchez Mira used to be ruled by Napoleon Sacramed Sr., father of Darwin, in the early 2000s.
    Bagasin is a neophyte in politics and was a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 83. He used to head the First Scout Ranger Regiment at Southern Command, the 11th Infantry Battalion in Negros Island, the 5th Infantry Division covering Cagayan Valley and Cordillera, and the 4th Infantry Division.
    When he retired from the military, he was appointed by President Duterte as deputy administrator of the National Irrigation Administration.
    A third-class town in northern Cagayan, Sanchez Mira has 26,164 residents as of the 2020 census.