Pampanga remains Pineda stronghold

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Notwithstanding the stunning loss in the capital city, Pampanga firmly remains a Pineda stronghold.

With 99.72% of the election returns transmitted as of 5:45 a.m. on May 14, the already proclaimed governor-elect VG Lilia “Nanay” Pineda garnered 707,782 votes against rival Danilo Baylon’s 475,200. Of Pampanga’s two component cities and 19 municipalities, Baylon won only in his Candaba hometown, beating Pineda by 8,053 votes.

In the vice gubernatorial race, incumbent Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda swept all towns and cities with 748,782 votes against former Gov. Ed Panlilio’s 385,926.    

Under the Pineda banner, mayors in the towns of Apalit, Bacolor, Macabebe, Minalin, and San Luis ran – and naturally won – unopposed, further solidifying their political dominance over the province.

First District

In the 1^st District, all the Pineda allies registered triumphs.

Unopposed for the congressional post, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin still managed to get 262,517 votes.

In Mabalacat City, the Atty. Geld Aquino-Marcos “Jun” Castro team-up upended the popular tandem of incumbent Mayor Cris Garbo and his daughter Win-win. Aquino had 69,244 votes against Garbo’s 50,822.

Magalang Mayor Malou Paras-Lacson with 37,406 votes won anew against former Mayor Romy Pecson with 28,634.

 Second District

In the 2^nd District, the Pineda hometown of Lubao remains in the family’s keeping: daughter Esmie Pineda reelected with 58,657 votes against contender Salvador Dimson Jr’s 15,208.

Guagua Mayor Tonton Torres was reelected with 38,819 votes drubbing former Mayor Dante Torres’ 13,681. 

Reelected too was Sasmuan’s Lina Bagasina Cabrera with 12,677 votes against Charito Montemayor’s 7,781.

The district produced two new mayors:

Floridablanca’s Michael Galang winning with 26,713 votes against Darren Manalansan with 24,937.

Sta. Rita’s Reynan Calo with 14,256 votes beating incumbent Art Salalila with 10,543.

In Porac, POGO-infected incumbent Mayor Jing Capil won with 39,939 votes against Mike Tapang’s 23,063. Even as Tapang was backed by the Pineda patriarch, Capil did not decamp to their rivals.   

Third District

The City of San Fernando made a defiant stand against the Pinedas with Mayor Vilma Balle-Caluag entering into an axis with Baylon and Panlilio.

Caluag’s Team Laban San Fernando’s 12-0 rout of Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab’s ticket, punctuated by the incumbent’s 127,124 votes against the challenger’s 49,061, did indeed impact heavily on the perceived political invincibility of the Pinedas in Pampanga.

However, the blow mattered little, if any, to the race for the Capitol. Nanay still managing to get 86,348 as against Baylon’s 84,229, and Delta snagging an even higher 89,349 vis-à-vis Panlilio’s 77,384. This despite the programmed demonization of the Pinedas in the capital city from Day One of voter’s registration.

In Bacolor, unopposed Mayor Diman Datu and Vice Mayor Ron Dungca are dyed-in-the-wool Pineda men.

In Mexico, incumbent Mayor Ruding Gonzales (46,487 votes) and opponent Arch. Alex Tumang (37,168 votes) were Pineda supporters both.

The same held in Sta. Ana, the Pineda patriarch’s open support to eventual mayoralty winner Dinan Labung (17,314 votes) did not push also-ran Banung Barro (11,757 votes) out of the Pineda orbit.

In Arayat too, triumphant Jeffrey Luriz (38,765 votes) keeping the Pineda mother-son tandem in all his campaign collaterals, even with Delta joining losing incumbent Mayor Madir Alejandrino (7,098 votes) in her campaign sorties.   

Fourth District

Unopposed Mayors Jun Tetangco of Apalit, Philip Naguit of Minalin, and Jay Sagum of San Luis even before the campaign period already joined Delta in his various service deliveries in the province.

Even as Nanay lost by 8,053 votes to Baylon in his Candaba hometown (her 31,171 against his 39,222), incumbent Mayor Rene Maglanque trounced Baylon’s wife Aniway anew, 40,267 to 26,438. Her votes even 630 lower than those she got in their first contest in 2022. Maglanque’s on the other hand increasing by 1,073.  

Unopposed Macabebe Mayor Leonardo “Bobong” Flores has long proven himself to be a die-hard Pineda ally, dating to the early days of Nanay as Lubao mayor.

By design, perhaps, of the rivals themselves, the political heat that obtained in San Simon did not reach the provincial level. While the eventually reelected Mayor JP Punsalan (18,114 votes) was all over the Pineda campaign, also-rans Dading Santos (17,581) and Rommel Bondoc (2,281) did not display any sympathy for the Baylon-Panlilio tandem.   

In Masantol, openly Pineda-backed Dan Guintu successfully made a comeback to the mayorship he held for three terms, his 19,673 votes beating incumbent Mayor Ton Ton Bustos’s 16,193.

In Sto. Tomas, all three contenders carried the Pinedas in their campaign materials. Of utmost significance is the support for the Nanay-Delta tandem of incumbent Mayor Johnny Sambo, famously loyal acolyte of Panlilio since his time as the town’s parish priest. Sambo’s 11,892 votes ensured his reelection bid against Raymond Ronquillo’s 9,593 votes, and Matias “Bong” Pineda’s 7,869 votes.     

Only Vilma

In a headcount of the chief executives of Pampanga’s 19 municipalities and two cities, only the capital city’s Mayor Vilma Balle-Caluag stands outside the Pineda line.

Quo vadis, Baylon? Et tu, Panlilio?

Where go Baylon and Panlilio now? Each has twice been beaten for the governorship of Pampanga.

Panlilio who has kept the reverential “Among” despite the suspension of his priestly faculties was avalanched with votes in contests with Nanay in 2010 and 2013. His being declared winner by the Comelec in 2007 even negated by the proclamation of Nanay as “true winner” via electoral protest shortly before the 2010 elections. 

The one who once went by the moniker “Anak ng Ama” (Barabbas in Aramaic) losing to Delta in 2022 and to Nanay in the election just past. In each instance getting no higher than 41% of the vote.

For the hopelessly hopeful, 2028 is already on the horizon and, as it’s cliched, third time’s the charm. Maybe, just maybe, all Baylon has to do is consult his wife Aniway for omens. Wasn’t she bruited about as being possessed -- sinasapian, sinasaniban? – by the Virgin during her preachings?

Who knows, Baylon may just do a Vilma in Pampanga.