by Sentinel Times June 29, 2019 Members of Quezon Sangguniang Panglalawigan led ...
June 29, 2019
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| Members of Quezon Sangguniang Panglalawigan led by Vice Governor and SP Presiding Officer Sam Nantes (right, in red long sleeves shirt) pose for posterity after their last regular session. (JOHN BELLO) |
LUCENA CITY – Somber but funny farewell speeches highlighted the last regular session on Monday of the members of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan (SP) of Quezon for 2016-2019 some of whom were defeated in the May 13 midterm elections.
Attending the last session with many vacant seats in the gallery of the session hall were board members Aileen Buan and Claro Talaga, Jr. of the 1st district, Elizabeth Sio and Ferdinand Talabong of the 2nd district, Dominic Reyes of the 3rd district and Sonny Ubana, Rhodora Tan and Raquel Mendoza of the 4th district. Also present was board member Ireneo Boongaling, president of the Liga ng mga Barangay in Quezon, who only started his term in August last year.
No show were board members Hermilando Alcala Jr. of the 2nd district, Donaldo Suarez of the 3rd district, president of Phil. Councilors League in Quezon Vicente Salumbides and Iris Armando of the Sangguniang Kabataan in Quezon.
Buan fired the opening salvo with a quip before she launched into her speech: “Bakit ba ayaw ninyo imikin ang salitang talo?”
Talaga earlier stood saying that those outgoing SP members must be given the priority to make their speech but vice governor and SP presiding officer Samuel Nantes said that ‘technically’ all the SP members from 2016 to 2019 will be bowing out of their 3 yrs. term.
Buan, who placed 3rd among other candidates for board members in 1st district, also joked that she could have won but she was surpassed in votes by her political rivals in her district. Former board member Alona Obispo topped the race while Talaga placed 2nd.
The chairman of the SP committee on cultural minorities who served the 8 towns of Northern Quezon concluded her speech saying “I am proud to have given my best for my district.”
Buan, a former Liberal party member, filed her certificate of candidacy under the banner of the Nacionalista party and aligned herself with the Suarez family in the last elections.
Board member Talabong, who lost in the vice mayoralty race in Lucena city to incumbent vice mayor Philip Castillo, quoted American military general Douglas MacArthur who said in his farewell address to the joint session of both houses of the US congress on April 19, 1951 that ‘old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” adding another quote of the man when he vowed to the Filipino people during the 2nd world war in 1944 that ‘I shall return” hinting of Talabong’s intention to run again for political position in 2022.
Talabong, chairman of the committee on legal matters being the sole lawyer in SP, has questioned the Pagbilao power plant’s billion pesos tax arrears to the province but went on to support its expansion.
Mendoza, who placed 4th in the race for board member in the 4th district, expressed profuse thanks to the Suarez family for their support of her political candidacy but made mention of Congw. Helen Tan whom she had compared negatively to Alona partylist congresswoman Anna Villaraza-Suarez in an FB post last year. Some speculated that what Mendoza did cost her to fail in her reelection bid. Ubana, Tan and former board member Derrick Magbuhos were the winners in the board member race in 4th district.
The runaway winner in the 2nd district race for board member, Sio said that she remain friends to her outgoing colleagues and they can call her anytime. She will be joined by another former board member Romano Talaga and neophyte Yna Liwanag, who has been a 3-term councilor from Candelaria. Sio, who is in her last term, has been speculated about to be aspiring to run for vice governor in the next elections in 2022.
Ubana, the SP majority floor leader, thanked the 432 barangays of his district for supporting his candidacy, along with his colleagues, Talabong and Alcala Jr. of whom he said in jest as “may mapanganib na ngiti pero sinuportahan ang mabibigat na isyu ng Sangguniang Panglalawigan.” He also cited the passage of the provincial tax code as the chairman of the committee on ways and means and expressed satisfaction that the SP members have been united to support the development programs of Gov. Suarez needed for the progress of the province.
For her part, Tan said whatever happened to them as SP members, their term is not their final destination and stressed that ‘the best is yet to come” in the years ahead.
Boongaling made the distinction between ‘magkalaban’(enemies) and magkatunggali (competitors)’ saying they are competitors but not enemies adding that they are all winners for having been of service to their constituents and they can even serve the people even if they are not in any government position.
Lastly, Nantes, the youngest SP presiding officer, expressed his thanks to all his colleagues in the SP, recognizing briefly each of what they contributed in every deliberations and hearings saying he looks forward to the next 3 years of fruitful legislative session that will contribute to the good of the province.
“At the end of the day, we are all part of the bigger picture for the onward progress of our province and the making of our nation,” concluded the vice governor who won his 3rd and last term with a landslide vote of over half a million against his rival in the recent midterm elections.
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