| Money
politics mars Tarlac City ABC race By
AMANTE B. REYES
TARLAC CITY — The current race
for the presidential post of the
Association of Barangay Chairmen (ABC)
has occupied center stage and is now the
political talk in this city.
Concerned citizens have expressed
alarm over the reported meddling of
politicians with offers of
"bribes" and other forms of
enticement among village chiefs in order
for them to vote for the candidates of
their choice.
Vying for the hotly contested position
are reelectionist ABC president, Ernesto
Galang, village chief of Barangay
Maliwalo; Mike Quintos, of Barangay San
Vicente; and Armand Rivera, of Barangay
Aguso.
The contenders have been notably busy
campaigning for support among their 76
colleagues in the city.
Sources have it that the fight has
narrowed down between Galang and Quintos
because of the "politics of
money" being applied by their
respective political backers, which has
already reached scandalous proportions.
Rivera, the sources pointed out,
refused to be counted out, as he is
banking on the support of around 20
barangay chairmen who now belong to the
so-called "third force"
organized by Gov. Jose Yap Sr.
In a meeting last August 22, a
Thursday, the said village officials have
already reportedly pledged before Yap to
"work for peace and progress"
in their respective communities, with the
provincial government providing the
impetus.
The barangay officials in attendance
further reportedly agreed to meet again
after two weeks to discuss the problems
facing their respective barangays.
Galang, meanwhile, is reportedly being
jointly supported by Mayor Gelacio
Manalang and Vice Mayor Miguel Tañedo,
while Quintos has the political backings
of incumbent Mayor Genaro Mendoza.
According to sources, Manalang is bent
on staging a comeback as city mayor in
2004. He ran but lost when he challenged
Yap’s gubernatorial reelection bid
in May last year.
The same sources have it that Mendoza,
in turn, is determined to stop
Manalang’s political inroads in the
ABC elections.
It would, however, be noted that
during the just-concluded synchronized
barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan
polls, majority of the winning barangay
chairmen are identified with Manalang, as
most of those who were reportedly backed
by Mendoza were overwhelmingly defeated.
It was gathered that if the so-called
"Ace Forces" win the ABC
intramurals, the next move would be for
them to file a recall against Mendoza, as
they would then have the numbers, while
Tañedo remains to lead the majority bloc
in the city council.
"Ace" is Manalang’s
popular nickname.
Already, Galang and several ABC board
of directors have filed a complaint of
abuse of authority against Mendoza before
the Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG) for the incumbent
mayor’s alleged intervention in the
ABC election.
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