CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – The Year of the
Water Snake in Nueva Ecija has been a mix of the good and the bad, with the
province - the country’s rice granary getting battered by calamities that
destroyed billions of crops - some former local officials getting linked to
suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and the Umalis
suffering contrasting fortunes in their respective electoral bids in May.
The
destruction wreaked by typhoon Santi in October topped all other news in the
province over the past 12 months. The super howler killed at least three people
and destroyed P3 billion worth of crops alone, not to mention damage to
properties, toppling power lines and turning many areas in the province into
virtual wastelands.
The
province was placed under a state of calamity and President Aquino was supposed
to pay a visit when an earthquake struck Bohol,
diverting Malacanang’s attention away.
The
province just barely survived Labuyo when Santi came. For three full weeks, the
province was without power.
On
the political front, Gov. Aurelio Umali and his wife, third district Rep.
Czarina won third terms in their posts, the former pulling off his fourth poll
victory over the Josons, the once proud and mighty dynasty that ruled the
province for 48 years.
A
third Umali, Board Member Emmanuel Antonio, however, lost in his mayoral bid in
Cabanatuan to five-term Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara in their highly anticipated
duel preceded by a prolonged word war over the Highly Urbanized City bid being
pushed by the incumbent mayor. In April, Vergara and his men were charged with
theft before the city prosecutor’s office for allegedly stealing the video
camera of a crew from TV 48 identified with the Umalis’ camp.
Emmanuel
Antonio’s debacle dealt the Umalis – unbeaten since they entered politics a
decade ago – their first electoral defeat.
Aurelio’s
running mate, Vice Gov. Jose Gay Padiernos also breezed through reelection and
became the first non-Umali to beat a Joson in positions involving the Capitol.
Year
2013 saw the emergence of new political stars in the province such as
Estrellita Suansing of the first district who beat a Joson and Magnolia
Antonino-Nadres of the fourth district who survived a disqualification case
thrown against her by a political rival for being an American citizen.
Womanization
of Nueva Ecija politics has become a byword after several women politicians
soundly defeated their male counterparts in the various elective posts. Three
of four congressional districts are now ruled by women while three of five
cities are now sitting as mayors, the most prominent of whom is Adrianne Mae
Cuevas of the provincial capital Palayan where she defeated a former political
kingpin who once reigned as mayor and congressman for three terms each.
Shortly
after getting reelected, the governor announced that his wife Czarina is
seeking the governorship in 2016.
The
year saw the rise and fall of dynasties.
The
start of 2013 saw the appointment of a Novo Ecijano as the new provincial
director of the Philippine National Police. Senior Superintendent Crizaldo
Nieves assumed the post in January, replacing Walter Castillejos who has barely
warmed his seat.
Nieves,
a native of Zaragoza town, survived an acid test with the generally peaceful
and orderly conduct of the elections in spite of the fact that 60% of the
cities and towns were tagged as hot spots and Governor Umali aired concern over
the defective precinct count optical machines (PCOS).
The
months before and after the elections were marked by several incidents. Shortly
after the polls, the municipal hall in San
Antonio town got burned in a fire, leaving the new
Mayor Antonino Lustre with no office.
Prior to the
polls, the former three-term mayor of Gapan
City, Ernesto Natividad, was arrested
while undergoing dialysis treatment in a Manila
hospital. He was believed to have gone into hiding after he was charged with
multiple murder along with several others in connection with the attack on a
cockpit arena owned by his political rival in 2006.
A flood of
sympathy went his daughter Maricel’s way, catapulting the latter into a
surprise victory over incumbent Mayor Christian Tinio. The younger Natividad
would pull off another surprise, getting married to former San Leonardo mayor
Froilan Nagano who just blew his congressional bid.
Violence erupted
in Gapan in August when four persons were massacred following an attack by
gunmen. The target of the attack, Emerson Pascual survived and tagged barangay
chairman Montano Barlis as the one who shot his group. Barlis was later
arrested while Pascual was later elected barangay chairman of Pambuan in
October.
Later, the
election officer of Gapan also got wounded in an ambush, prompting Padiernos to
summon the local police to shed light on the situation. The police chief was
later relieved.
In May, forester
Edgardo de Luna survived an attack by suspected illegal logging syndicates. He
was again attacked in June and survived. He was later transferred to another
region.
Power was cut
off in Pantabangan town in March by the First Gen. Hydropower Corp. allegedly
over the failure of the municipal government-owned Pantabangan Municipal
Electrification System (Pames) to settle over P50 million worth of unpaid
bills. It was the third power cut off in eight months and it was costly for the
sitting mayor. who lost as a result.
Also in March,
Vice Mayor Ester Lazaro assumed the post of Mayor of the Science City of Munoz
after the sitting mayor, Efren Alvarez lost a graft conviction case before the
Supreme Court. Alvarez later went missing after a warrant for his arrest was
issued. His younger brother, comebacking
former three-term mayor Nestor, trounced Lazaro in the May polls.
Aside from
Alvarez, quite a number of local officials also faced charges. Mayor Richard
Ramos of Lupao, Mayor Lucio Uera of Pantabangan and others were slapped graft
charges.
At least five
former municipal mayors, four in southern Nueva Ecija, were identified as
having requested in 2006 funding assistance from then-agriculture secretary
Arthur Yap. The letters ended up with Napoles’ office at Discovery Suites. The
ex-mayors denied receiving the funds.
Napoles was also
said to have owned a resort in Cabiao town but local officials had no knowledge
that it actually exists.
In July, Novo
Ecijanos lost a kababayan in the Cabinet when Antonio Nangel was replaced as
administrator of the National Irrigation Administration barely a week after getting
scolded by President Aquino. His successor Claro Maranan later relieved six
division managers in the province. (Manny Galvez)
