Zamboanga City local elections, 2013

Zamboanga City mayoralty election, 2013

May 13, 2013

Nominee Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar Erico Basilio Fabian Romeo Jaloslos disqualified Party Liberal Fuerza Zamboanga UNA Running mate Cesar Iturralde Luis Climaco Mercy Arquiza-Fernandez Popular vote 172,439 29,923 Percentage 77.26% 13.18%   Nominee Albert Cajayon Party Lakas Popular vote 5,967 Percentage 2.67%

Mayor before election Celso Lobregat LDP Elected Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar Liberal

Local elections were held in Zamboanga City on May 13, 2013, within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, and eight (8) councilors per district.

Summary

Two main coalitions posied for the control of Zamboanga City beginning mid-2012:

• The Adelante Zamboanga Party (AZAP) headed by incumbent Mayor Celso Lobregat; and
• The Zamboangueños for the Transformation of Zamboanga (ZTZ) headed by former Zamboanga del Norte congressman Romeo Jalosjos.

LP-LDP-AZAP

The AZAP coalition is composed of the local party itself and the local chapters of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino and of the Liberal Party. Incumbent District II Representative Erico Basilio Fabian is term-bounded and cannot run for another term and is poised to run for the mayorship in the next elections.^[1] But the party endorsed, with the initiative of Mayor Lobregat, incumbent District I Representative Beng Climaco for the mayorship.^[2][3]

The Split

Felt being junked by his former partymates in Lobregat's camp, Fabian decided to run against Climaco-Salazar under the banner of a new party, the Fuerza Zamboanga.^[4][5] Lobregat denied Fabian's allegations citing that Fabian confirmed that he will not run for a new post and consider retirement.^[6][7]

ZTZ-UNA

By the start of June 2012, former Zamboanga del Norte congressman Romeo Jalosjos announced his bid for the mayoralty in Zamboanga City.^[8] He then started to establish a non-government organization known as the Zamboangueños for the Transformation of Zamboanga (ZTZ) with a 25-point agenda aimed at transforming Zamboanga City with progress and development.^[9][10]

The United Nationalist Alliance fielded Jalosjos to chair the UNA local chapter in the city and Zamboanga del Norte.^[11]

Disqualification Case

Representative Beng Climaco and Jomar Lobregat, the Mayor's brother filed a disqualification case against Jalosjos citing that he didn't meet the one (1) year residency requirement. He is also questioned that he is not qualified because of his conviction in a rape case in 1997 while he served in Congress.^[12][13]

On January 15, 2013, the Commission on Elections disqualified Jalosjos alongside his brother, Dominador Jalosjos who is also a candidate for governor of Zamboanga del Sur for violating the Local Government Code of 1991 which bars ex-convicts to run for office and run short of the required one-year residency in the place where a candidate can run.^[14][15][16]

Retiring and term-limited elective officials

• Celso Lobregat, incumbent mayor, term-limited in 2013
• Erico Basilio Fabian, incumbent District II Representative, term-limited in 2013
• Rodoflo Lim, incumbent District I councilor, term-limited in 2013
• Benjamin Guingona III, incumbent District II councilor, term-limited in 2013
• Reyniero Candido, incumbent District II councilor, term-limited in 2013

Candidates

Notes:

• bold means the candidate is incumbent and running for reelection;
• italic means the candidate previously run last 2010 election either on the same post or other posts;
• bold and italic means the candidate is an incumbent and is running for another position.

Results

The candidates for district representative, mayor, and vice mayor with the highest amount of votes wins the seat; they are voted separately, therefore, they may be of different parties when elected.

House of Representatives election

1st District

Incumbent Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar is not running; she is running for the mayorship instead; Incumbent Mayor Celso Lobregat is her party's nominee under the coalition of LDP-LP-AZAP.

The UNA-ZTZ coalition fielded former Monsignor Crisanto dela Cruz for the post. Dela Cruz previously run for the mayorship in 2007 and for the vice-mayorship in 2010. This will be the second time where Dela Cruz and Mayor Lobregat will go against each other as they have last 2007 mayoral elections.

2nd District

Incumbent Erico Basilio Fabian is term limited and running for the mayorship instead. He then formed a local coalition known as Fuerza Zamboanga yielding District II Councilor Lilia Nuño to replace him.

The AZAP coalition nominates Mayor Lobregat's brother, Jose Lobregat, to run for the post.

The ZTZ coalition recruited former City Vice-Mayor Mannix Dalipe to run for the post.

Mayoral elections

Incumbent Mayor Celso Lobregat is his third consecutive term and is barred to run for another term. He ran for Congress representing the First Legislative District.

Vice-mayoral elections

Incumbent Vice-Mayor Cesar Iturralde is running for reelection against former Councilor Luis Climaco and former Dapitan City councilor Mercy Arquiza-Fernandez.

City Council elections

Each of Zamboanga City's two legislative districts elects eight councilors to the City Council. The eight candidates with the highest amount of votes wins the seats per district.

Zamboanga City Council election, 2013

May 13, 2013

All 8 seats from each of Zamboanga City's two legislative districts 9 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Celso Lobregat Romeo Jalosjos Cesar Jimenez, Jr. Party LDP UNA NPC Alliance Team PNoy UNA Independent Leader's seat 1st District 2nd District 1st District Seats before 11 0 5 Seats won 8 3 1 Seat change 3 3 4   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Erico Basilio Fabian Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar Jose Lobregat Party Nacionalista Liberal AZAP Alliance Fuerza Zamboanga Team PNoy Team PNoy Leader's seat 2nd District 1st District 2nd District Seats before 0 0 0 Seats won 1 1 1 Seat change 1 1 1

1st District

 Summary of the May 13, 2013 Zamboanga City Council election results

#	Candidate	Coalition	Party		Votes	%	Swing[c 1]
1	Melchor Sadain	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	55,984	%
2	Rogelio Valesco, Jr.	Team PNoy		LDP	53,979	%
3	Cesar Jimenez, Jr.	not affiliated		NPC	52,873	%
4	Charlie Mariano	Team PNoy		LDP	51,277	%
5	Luis Biel III	Team PNoy		LDP	49,798	%
6	Josephine Pareja	not affiliated		Independent	47,798	%
7	Myra Paz Valderrosa-Abubakar	Team PNoy		LDP	46,691	%
8	Rodolfo Bayot	UNA		UNA	45,691	%
9	Jaime Cabato	UNA		UNA	45,564	%
10	Elbert Atilano	Team PNoy		Liberal	41,222	%
11	Hado Edding	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	24,724	%
12	Ahmad Sampang	Team PNoy		Liberal	23,902	%
13	Tito Espiritusanto	Team PNoy		LDP	21,805	%
14	Antonio Blanco	UNA		UNA	15,021	%
15	Violeta Alejandro	Team PNoy		AZAP	12,911	%
16	Alexis Ortega	UNA		UNA	12,653	%
17	Jarah Bernardo Romuar	UNA		UNA	10,791	%
18	Joselito Bernardo	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	10,702	%
19	Miguel Apostol	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	10,171	%
20	Jerson Monteverde	UNA		UNA	8,085	%
21	Armando Bucoy	Not affiliated		Independent	6,215	%
22	Marlon Torres	UNA		UNA	6,142	%
23	Khymer Olaso	Not affiliated		Independent	4,936	%
24	Rowland Bella	UNA		UNA	3,879	%
25	Rizaldy Montebon	Not affiliated		Lakas	3,760	%
26	Dominador Managula	Not affiliated		Independent	1,717	%
Certificates of canvass already canvassed
Total turnout							1.29%
Total votes						N/A
Registered voters							2.80%

2nd District

 Summary of the May 13, 2013 Zamboanga City Council election results

#	Candidate	Coalition	Party		Votes	%	Swing[c 1]
1	Roel Natividad	Team PNoy		Liberal	53,968	8.41%
2	Benjamin Guingona IV	Team PNoy		LDP	49,696	6.93%
3	Miguel Alavar III	Team PNoy		LDP	43,955	6.74%
4	Eduardo Saavedra, Jr.	Team PNoy		LDP	42,792	6.57%
5	Juan Climaco Elago II	UNA		UNA	42,653	6.73%
6	Percival Ramos	Team PNoy		LDP	38,494	5.74%
7	Rommel Agan	UNA		UNA	37,514	6.09%
8	Vincent Paul Elago	Team PNoy		AZAP	36,213	5.66%
9	John Dalipe	UNA		UNA	35,506	5.57%
10	Francisco Barredo	Team PNoy		LDP	34,372	5.34%
11	Al-Jihan Edding	UNA		UNA	35,227	5.34%
12	Susan delos Reyes	UNA		UNA	29,083	4.52%
13	Gerasimo Acuña	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	25,537	4.05%
14	Arturo Onrubia	Team PNoy		Liberal	24,612	3.93%
15	Frederick Atilano	Not affiliated		Independent	14,538	2.28%
16	Abubakar Hakim	Not affiliated		Independent	11,545	1.66%
17	Basilio Apolinario VII	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	11,484	1.68%
18	Loemyr Toribio	UNA		UNA	10,901	1.57%
19	Roseller Enriquez	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	10,828	1.77%
20	Resurrecion Miravite	UNA		UNA	9,848	1.58%
21	John David Corpin	Not affiliated		Independent	9,621	1.45%
22	Mohammadnur Ajihil	UNA		UNA	8,641	1.28%
23	Antonio Feliciano	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	5,357	0.88%
24	Carlito Depositario	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	5,200	0.85%
25	Nulhamdo Cegales	Not affiliated		Independent	4,817	0.70%
26	Bahari Camlian	Not affiliated		Independent	4,739	0.69%
27	Hussayin Apra	Not affiliated		Independent	4,526	0.66%
28	Eduardo Mingala	Fuerza Zamboanga		Independent	4,127	0.58%
29	Quirino Aba	Not affiliated		Independent	2,743	0.41%
30	Christopher Miguel, Sr.	Not affiliated		Independent	2,153	0.32%
Certificates of canvass already canvassed
Total turnout							1.29%
Total votes					64,119	N/A
Registered voters							2.80%

Aftermath

Proclamation^[17]

As the election unofficial results found that Climaco was leading by a wide margin, Fabian announced his concession and congratulates Climaco for winning the election. “I concede defeat and I would like to congratulate my dear friend Beng Climaco,” Fabian said in a press statement.^[18] On May 14, 2013, Climaco was proclaimed winner by the City Board of Canvassers in the mayoralty elections.^[19] She also laid out her plans for the city which includes the solution to solve the city power crisis and the peace and order situation.^[20]

District II Representative-elect Lilia Macrohon-Nuño also urged the people of Zamboanga to move on and discuss what is best for the city.^[21] She also revived the issue of creating a third congressional district for the city in which the city has more than 770,000 people.^[22] According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, each district shall represent 250,000. Currently, the city is represented twice in the House of Representatives. A previous move by then Congresswoman Climaco was made by filing a bill to Congress creating the said district but was blocked by the majority of the members of Zamboanga City Council.^[23]

Cabato electoral protest

After the proclamation of all the councilors of District I, outgoing incumbent Councilor Jaime Cabato who landed on the 8th spot announced his intention to file an electoral protest against his own partymate, Rudy Bayot who landed on the 7th spot and against the administration party bet, Myra Paz Valderrosa.^[24] Cabato was a former member of the administration-led party, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino^[25] until he switched sides with then mayoralty candidate, Romeo Jalosjos citing the fact that he disagreed with the candidate line-up of the LDP.^[26][27]

Taluksangay issue^[28]

Jose Augustus Villano, chairman of the Zamboanga chapter of Legal Network for Peaceful Election (LENTE), said his group found that of the 847 registered person with disabilities (PWDs) voters in Zamboanga City, 505 or almost 60 percent are from Barangay Taluksangay. Taluksangay is under the control of the Nuños which Lilia, one of its powerful members won the congressional race in District II.

Villano himself observed voting at the five clustered precincts of Taluksangay. He immediately noticed that almost all voters, whether they appeared to have a disability or not, were helped by a small group of people stationed inside the precinct. When Villalon asked election officers about them, he was told they were “liners” there to assist PWDs. LENTE records show that 80 to 90 percent of all who voted were assisted. Villano thinks that the people assisted might have been illiterate rather than PWDs. “I asked them in both Tagalog and in the native dialect Tausug and they understood. I asked them who they want to vote for and they pointed at the names.” When he asked the voters how they were related to the “liners,” they replied, “Sila ang magvo-vote para sa amin (They were the ones who voted for us).” When Villano told the election officers that this was illegal, the Board of Election Inspectors replied that she cannot assist the voters herself because she is "busy".

Despite its small voting population, Taluksangay was a point of contention during the campaign period. Jomar Lobregat’s party, Adelante Zamboanga, claims that they were not allowed to post their materials in there. In a news item in Zamboanga Times on April 14, Adelante Zamboanga team coordinator Rudy Lim said that when he asked Taluksangay barangay chairman Abdurahman Nuño if they can conduct a meeting in Taluksangay, Nuño replied, “No deal."^[29]

Abdurahman Nuño is the husband of Lilia and sits on the city council ex-officio and is president of the Association of Barangay Captains.

See also

• Philippine House of Representatives elections in the Zamboanga Peninsula, 2013
• Philippine general election, 2013

References

External links

• Official website of the Commission on Elections
• Official website of National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)
• Official website of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)

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