STO. TOMAS, Pampanga – Not the province’s foremost businessman-philanthropist Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda though, but his nicknamesake Matias “Bong” Pineda, incumbent vice mayor, that has set his sights on the mayoralty of this town.
Pineda, Matias that is, is
reported to have publicly announced his bid for local chief executive of
Pampanga’s smallest town – all of seven barangays – on at least two recent
occasions.
The first in Barangay Sto.
Rosario-Pau, where he served as longtime chairman and succeeded by his wife Karen;
and the second at the fiesta celebration in Barangay San Bartolome last Aug.
24.
While direct blood kinship
with Pampanga’s political first family has not been established, Matias is
known to be their ally, dating back to the governorship of the matriarch Lilia
“Nanay” Pineda starting in 2010. And the Bong moniker, is deemed as enough
interest draw.
Pineda will be running against re-electionist Mayor Johnny Sambo, against whom he lost in the mayoralty race in 2016, teamed up with in 2019 when Sambo lost to Gloria “Ninang” Ronquillo, and in tandem anew in 2022 when Sambo turned the tables on Ronquillo.
Sambo’s putative
running-mate for 2025 is former councilor Pinky Feliciano who failed miserably in
an earlier run for vice mayor against Ronquillo.
One-term mayor Ronquillo,
widow of former Mayor Romy Ronquillo, is reported to be eyeing the vice
mayoralty with her son Raymond running for mayor.
Of late, the son has been
visible with a key role in the highly popular Batang Quiapo teleserye of Coco
Martin.
Raymond Ronquillo stars in Batang Quiapo.
Very recently too, the Ronquillo family’s high-end resort Emon Pulo in Zambales factored in the Alice Guo saga with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission alleging the fugitive unseated Bamban mayor and cohorts were in the resort prior to her escape. “Slanderous,” said Ronquillo of the allegations categorically denying them all and even threatening to file cases against the PAOCC.
Former Mayor Gloria “Ninang” Ronquillo in Eman Pulo.
A Ronquillo son-mother tandem in 2025 harks back to the Ronquillo’s conjugal run in 2013 – the husband losing to Lito Naguit thereby earning the latter the distinction of being the first-ever three-term mayor of Sto. Tomas; and the wife bested by councilor Mark Louie Arceo, himself son of two-term mayor Lucas Arceo.
At this early, local
politics has become the town’s main currency.
Once a mere factotum of
Mayor Romy Ronquillo, Sambo gained political mileage as son-in-law of then
forever Mabalacat City Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales as well as material
resources from the myriad projects of his construction firm in the Metro Clark
area. This, further buttressed by his close association with the Bondoc siblings
– Juan Pablo, aka Rimpy, and Anna York – alternately ruling the roost in
Pampanga’s 4th congressional district since 1998.
Mayor Sambo with Rep. Anna York-Bondoc in relief mission.
The Ronquillos come straight out of the exclusive pages of the rich and famous – trucking, luxury cars, resort, realty, helicopters. In the 2022 election campaign, the son created a ruckus raining down peso bills all around town from his helicopter.
The Ronquillos have also
aligned with Patrol Partylist Rep. Jorge Bustos who is reported to be bent in
breaking the Bondoc’s stranglehold of the 4th District.
Purported “masa-favorite” Pineda joins San Bartolome fiesta revelry.
Public perception of Pineda makes him the most accessible of the three prospective candidates. It is bruited hereabouts that Sambo has made himself scarce in Pineda’s presence in official or social functions. This, after the vice mayor received more attention, greater applause, and even called “Mayor” even when Sambo was the principal guest.
From there, a consensus on
who can possibly win is already emerging in town, notwithstanding the political
situation still in a state of flux.
The best bet though is:
Mayor Bong Pineda, Vice Mayor Ronquillo, be it the mother or the son. In a
one-on-one with Mayor John. Photos grabbed from the web
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