LP HITS MASSIVE VOTE-BUYING IN PANGASINAN

The Liberal Party in Pangasinan today denounced what they described as “systematized” and “massive vote-buying operations” that were reportedly taking place almost in all cities and towns of the province in the run up before the May 13 election day.

            Former Vice Gov. Oscar Lambino, LP-Pangasinan spokesman, expressed apprehension that vote-buying was so rampant that it may affect election results in the province.

            “We have been receiving field reports that vote-buying operations are taking place in all areas of Pangasinan three days before the actual election day,” Lambino said in a statement.

            “The systematized vote-buying was obviously intended not only to affect the outcome of the electoral contest in the municipal level, but also in provincial and congressional levels,” he added.

            Lambino noted that political operators have set up fixed and mobile “buying stations” in Pangasinan, where voters are given cash ranging from P200 to P500 stapled to sample ballots of certain candidates.

            In some cases, he said, the vote-buyers were offering P10,000 to families with at least four registered voters in the household.

            Lambino explained that the number of policemen deployed in the province were apparently not enough to cover the wide-scale vote-buying operations.

            “To avoid detection by the police, the vote-buyers have set up stations in private residences as well as in properties of barangay officials,” the LP spokesman pointed out.  

“These wily operators are so imaginative that they are using every nook and cranny as vote-buying stations. These include sari-sari stores and buses, where the cash are handed out together with the sample ballots,” he added.

Nevertheless, LP gubernatorial candidate Hernani A. Braganza expressed optimism that Pangasinan voters would not be swayed by the huge some of money given to them by these political operators.

“The voters of Pangasinan are intelligent enough to vote in accordance with their conscience, even if some of them were forced to accept money from candidates out of fear or necessity,” Braganza said.

“Some of them were even telling me: Kay Espino ang pera, Braganza sa balota,” he added.

Braganza explained that he and the other LP candidates have succeeded in explaining to the voters the problems plaguing Pangasinan as well as the possible solutions to address these issues.

“We have succeeded in discussing the real issues in this election, and our people have responded positively to our call for reforms and good governance,” he added.

JDV JUNKS ESPINO, ENDORSES BRAGANZA FOR GOVERNOR

  

  

     

            Former Speaker Jose de Venecia has junked Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. as his candidate for governor and instead declared his open support to the gubernatorial bid of Liberal Party standard-bearer Hernani A. Braganza.

            De Venecia shocked barangay and political leaders of the Fourth District of Pangasinan when he called them to an emergency meeting last Wednesday night and asked them to ensure the victory of Braganza in the May 13 elections.

            The former Speaker’s wife, Rep. Gina De Venecia, is running for re-election under Espino’s Nationalist People’s Coalition.

            “I am asking you not only to vote for our next Governor, Hernani Braganza. I am imploring that you campaign and work double-time to ensure his victory in your barangays,” De Venecia said in the meeting that turned into a political rally held at Stadia in Dagupan City.

            The event was attended by more than 1,000 incumbent barangay captains, kagawads, barangay secretaries and treasurers, tanods, and health workers who comprise De Venecia’s political machinery in the towns of Manaoag, Mangaldan, San Fabian and  San Jacinto. Only eight of the 99 incumbent barangay captains in said towns did not attend the meeting.

            On stage with De Venecia were incumbent Mangaldan Mayor Bernard “Berex” Abalos and San Jacinto Mayor Robert De Vera, who are also running under Gov. Espino’s political party.

            De Venecia noted that he is actively endorsing Braganza’s gubernatorial bid in recognition of the Alaminos City Mayor’s vast experience in governance, both in the national and local level.

            “We have cabaleyans who served as Cabinet Members in Malacanang. But only Nani Braganza has earned the distinction of being the only Pangasinense who held three Cabinet positions at an early age,” the former Speaker said.

            Braganza has served as Secretary of Agrarian Reform, Press Secretary and Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs with Cabinet rank.

            “Let us help Braganza win the governorship and who knows, this young man may be the next President from Pangasinan. Mark my word, Nani Braganza is the man to watch in Philippine politics today,” De Venecia said.

            De Venecia also expressed optimism that Braganza’s honesty and integrity as a public servant would help the government’s efforts to secure peace with the communist New People’s Army.

            “I have talked with CPP Founder Jose Maria Sison in the Netherlands and he told me that Nani Braganza is one of the few government officials who they consider as honest and dedicated in serving the ordinary people,” the former Speaker said.

              “I am sure that Nani Braganza, with his reputation as an honest and dedicated public servant, can help us end the rebellion of the Marxist insurgents,” he added.

            De Venecia explained that although he still consider Gov. Espino a close friend, he has no choice but to support Braganza in the interest of the Pangasinenses.

            “Gov. Espino is a dear friend. We helped him get elected in 2007 and 2010. But he has done nothing to bring projects to the barangays and help improve the living condition of our people,” he said.

            De Venecia noted that Gov. Espino promised to bring projects to the barangays during his previous campaigns, but these promises were not fulfilled after he was elected into office.

            “He (Gov. Espino) failed to bring roads, schoolhouses and irrigation projects as he promised. What more can he promise now?,” he added.

            De Venecia is the second highly-regarded political figure from Pangasinan who has openly endorsed Braganza’s gubernatorial bid.

            Last April 21, former President Fidel V. Ramos came out in the open and endorsed his nephew Braganza for governor of Pangasinan.

“If Nani Braganza will be elected governor of Pangasinan, I am sure that foreign and domestic investors will take a second look at our province and pour in the much-needed investments to jumpstart the local economy,” Mr. Ramos said.

            He noted that Braganza’s vast experience as a public servant would help in pole-vaulting Pangasinan as a premier province not only in Northern Philippines, but in the entire country as well.

            “Nani Braganza could spell the difference for peace and development in Pangasinan,” he pointed out.

            Mr. Ramos noted that Pangasinan has been a considered the most progressive province in the country when he was still the President. This distinction, he said, was wiped out when Amado Espino,Jr. was elected Governor in 2007.

            “During my term, the investment grade for Pangasinan was BBBB or 4Bs. Today, it is BBB, which means Bagoong, Bangus and Bukayo,” he said.

            “Ang kailangan natin ngayon ay siguruhin ang 4B: Bagoong, Bangus, Bukayo at Braganza!” he added.

BRAGANZA TO PANGASINENSES: BEWARE OF ‘FOOLING’ FIRMS

 

            The Liberal Party’s gubernatorial candidate for Pangasinan, Hernani Braganza, today cautioned his provincemates against the proliferation of self-styled survey firms that are used by wily candidates to boost their political stock during election seasons.

            “You cannot help but be wary of the motives of so-called survey firms that mushroom in Pangasinan during elections. Their findings are so ridiculous that they deserve to be called ‘fooling firms”, not polling firms,” Braganza said.  

            Braganza aired the alarm after a previously unknown polling firm held a press conference in Pangasinan last Friday to announce their survey findings, which show Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. leading in the gubernatorial race with a wide margin.

            The press conference was held a day after President Aquino toured Lingayen and Urdaneta City to endorse the gubernatorial bid of Braganza and campaign for the Team Pnoy candidates in Pangasinan.

            “The release of the survey findings is suspicious, coming a day after President Aquino visited Pangasinan to campaign for Team PNoy candidates,” Braganza pointed out.

            “It seems my rival is shaking in his boots. In panic, he has unleashed every trick in his book of disinformation tactics to arrest his dwindling public support,” he added.

            Braganza noted that this is not the first time that a previously unknown survey firm has surfaced in Pangasinan to impress on the public that Gov. Espino is leading in the gubernatorial race.

            He recalled that shortly after the local campaign period started last March 28, two survey firms in Pangasinan released their poll findings showing that Gov. Espino was leading the gubernatorial race with a 90-10 margin.

            “Suspiciously, the two poll findings bore identical results and released almost at the same time,” Braganza pointed out.

            “Sampu singko na ang survey results sa Pangasinan at di na alam ng tao kung paniniwalaan pa ito,” he added.

            The LP gubernatorial bet questioned the latest survey finding that showed 99.6 percent of the respondents had already made up their mind who to vote for governor.

“I have participated in many elections. It is highly improbable that almost all the voters are already sure who they will vote for a month before actual election day,” he said.

Interviews for the latest survey in Pangasinan were allegedly conducted from April 19 to 25.

Braganza also laughed off the allegation by the survey firm that a total of 2,500 respondents in Pangasinan were interviewed for the latest poll.

“The reputable survey firms such as SWS and Pulse Asia can only afford to conduct poll interviews involving 1,200 respondents nationwide. These interviews are expensive and I doubt if any pollster in his right mind would spend millions just to have an inkling of who is winning the Pangasinan gubernatorial race,” he pointed out.

LP RAGES OVER NEW GRENADE ATTACK ON MAYOR’S HOUSE

 

            The Liberal Party in Pangasinan today expressed outrage over the latest grenade attack on the house of Urdaneta Mayor Amadeo Gregorio “Bobom” Perez IV, two days after he hosted President Aquino’s luncheon-meeting with incumbent mayors at his residence.

            The Liberal Party noted that the grenade attack on Mayor Perez’s residence took place only a week after unidentified men also lobbed a grenade at the house of Bugallon Mayor Rodrigo Orduna, the whistleblower who filed plunder charges against Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. for alleged involvement in jueteng operations.

            “We, in the Liberal Party, join our fellow Pangasinenses in expressing our anger over this latest outbreak of violence that target incumbent mayors of the province,” the LP said in a statement.

            “What makes the incident more reprehensible is the fact that the latest grenade attack took place in the same area where Mayor Perez hosted a luncheon-meeting for the President last Thursday,” the LP pointed out.

            “We have no idea what the motives of the perpetrators are, but we hope that this is not connected with the President’s call for the LP and NPC mayors to join him in his crusade for good government in Pangasinan,” the LP added.

            The President toured Lingayen and Urdaneta City last Thursday to inaugurate government projects and help campaign for Team Pnoy candidates in the province led by LP’s gubernatorial candidate Hernani A. Braganza.

            Last April 24, an unidentified person also lobbed a grenade on Mayor Orduna’s compound on Bugayong street in Barangay Poblacion, Bugallon.  No one was reported injured in the incident.

            Orduna is serving his last term as mayor, and is now running for vice mayor of Bugallon. He has joined the Liberal Party after severing his ties with Gov. Espino, whose son Jumel is now running for mayor of Bugallon under the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

            Orduna hogged the headlines last December after he filed plunder charges at the Office of the Ombudsman against Gov. Espino for allegedly pocketing more than P900 million from proceeds of jueteng operations in Pangasinan.

            Orduna, a former trusted political lieutenant of Espino, said the governor accumulated the ill-gotten wealth from jueteng operations since the time Espino was police director of Pangasinan in 1988.

            His statements at the Ombudsman were corroborated by Fernando Alimagno, alias Boy Bata, who confessed that he was one of the biggest jueteng operators in Pangasinan. Alimagno is now running for mayor of Candelaria, Quezon, under PDP-Laban.

GOV. ESPINO, REP. CELESTE FACE DISQUALIFICATION SUITS

            A congressional candidate of the Liberal Party in Pangasinan has asked the Commision on Elections to disqualify re-electionist Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. and Rep. Jesus “Boying” Celeste for allegedly detaining his supporters and preventing them from distributing his campaign materials.

            Atty. Bodie Pulido, who is running for congressman in the First District of Pangasinan, said in his complaint that Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste used force and intimidation to harass his supporters during an incident that took place last April 2.

            Pulido recalled that his supporters Melvin Ancheta and Aljon Laderas were distributing leaflets and other campaign materials at Barangay Napunit in Infanta when several unidentified men on board a tricycle approached them and forcibly confiscated their belongings, including the Liberal Party’s campaign paraphernalia.

The unidentified men reportedly forced Ancheta and Laderas to ride the tricycle and accompany them. Ancheta and Laderas were then brought and detained at the Municipal Hall of Infanta upon the orders of Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste.

At the municipal hall, Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste confronted the two campaign workers and repeatedly asked them to divulge who ordered them to distribute the campaign materials and on who are paying them to do so.

When Ancheta and Laderas did not respond to their inquiry, Rep. Celeste said “Dapat sa inyo, binibigyan ng leksyon!”

Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste then ordered their men to take photographs of Ancheta and Laderas.

When a team of responding policemen arrived at the scene, Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste ordered the lawmen to arrest Ancheta and Laderas. The duo were briefly detained at the police headquarters before they were released hours later.

Aggrieved by the illegal, inhumane and criminal acts committed by Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste against them, Ancheta and Laderas sought Pulido’s legal advice on how to file a complaint for Unlawful Arrest/Slight Illegal Detention against the two officials.

            Pulido explained that Section1, Rule 25 of the Rules of the Comelec provides that: “Any candidate who does not possess all the qualifications of a candidate as provided for by the Constitution or by existing law or who commits any act declared by law to be grounds for disqualification may be disqualified from continuing as a candidate.”

            “Based on the statements of Ancheta and Ladera, it is clear that Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste violated pertinent provisions of the Omnibus Election Code which may cause their disqualification,” Pulido said.

            He cited Section 83 of the Omnibus Election Code which provides: “It shall be unlawful for any person during the campaign period to remove, destroy, obliterate, or in any manner deface or tamper with, or prevent the distribution of lawful election propaganda.”

            “Thus, for forcibly confiscating the leaflets, posters, and other election paraphernalia from Ancheta and Delloza, and for intimidating, threatening and detaining the latter, it is clear that Espino and Celeste prevented the distribution of lawful election propaganda, in violation of Section 83 of the Omnibus Election Code,” Pulido pointed out.

            Aside from the disqualification suits, Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste are also facing murder charges at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly masterminding the killing of Infanta Mayor Ruperto Martinez last December 15.

            A teenaged witness told the National Bureau of Investigation that Gov. Espino and Rep. Celeste ordered the killing of Martinez after the mayor learned that the pier in his town was being used to smuggle minerals out of Pangasinan.