Monday, November 5, 2007

Barangay polls show clout of Ortega clan

BY JERRY PADILLA

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Political dynasties are still ruling even during barangay polls.

In this city, four members of the Ortega clan were proclaimed winners night of Oct. 29.
Manuel Victor “Manix” Ortega, son of former congressman and now incumbent Gov. Manuel

Ortega, was unopposed in the coastal village of Canaoay.

The governor’s brother, Ramon “monet” Ortega, who resigned as executive assistant of his other brother, Mayor Pablo Ortega, was also unopposed in Barangay IV along with his seven councilors, including his younger brother, Mario Ortega, former president of the Liga ng mga Barangay.

Monet is the last of eight brothers of the Ortega clan who have entered politics. Paolo Ortega, son of Mayor Pablo Ortega, won as No. 1 councilman in Barangay Lingsat.

The Ortega clan dominated last May’s election with the victory of most of its members, including former governor Victor Ortega as representative of the province’s 1st District.

Victor, husband of former mayor Mary Jane Ortega, is the eldest among 15 children of the late Francisco Ortega and Corazon Campus-Ortega.

The Ortega clan has been in politics and public service since Aug. 15, 1901, the day when the patriarch Don Joaquin Ortega was appointed by the American government as the first civil governor of La Union.

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