Sangil: The political triangle in Porac

THE assumption is that it will be a three-cornered fight in the mayoral race in 2022 in Porac. Of course, incumbent Mayor Jing V. Capil will definitely seek re-election for a second term. Businessman Mike Tapang, now an incumbent councilor and a former member of the Pampanga’s Provincial Board, will make his second attempt after suffering defeat in the hands of Condralito De La Cruz some years back. Maybe, there are lessons learned in his first debacle and presumably, he is making certain adjustments now. He is currently busy in mending political fences.

Councilor Maynard Lapid will complete the triangle. In the last elections, he topped the council race, and now he believes his time to shine has arrived. He has been overshadowed by his father who by sheer of luck became a member of the Philippine Senate because of that long running television series “Ang Probinsiyano.” Maynard will attempt to assert himself in Porac politics despite the fact that his older brother Mark ranked a poor third in the last mayoral elections which was won by Capil. Mark Lapid’s campaign was the most festive with actor Coco Martin taking the townspeople by a storm and endorsed the former’s candidacy. It didn’t work. Capil won convincingly and crushed Vice Mayor Dexter David along the way. It is expected that it will be a Lapid-David tandem in the forthcoming. It is also expected that there will be realignments. The current vice mayor may be partnering with Tapang. There’s a long list of vice mayors being carefully screened and under selection in Capil’s line up. At this point, Capil is still popular with people and has the edge being the incumbent.

The three are all financially capable in mounting an expected expensive husting. Capil has been a successful businessman involved in drug manufacturing before politics beckoned. Tapang became one of the youngest multi millionaires in Porac town due to his quarry operations and trucking business. The young Lapid will surely be bankrolled by his father who is presumed to be a billionaire now after serving as three term governor, spent 12 years in the senate and now going on his third term. The senator owns the biggest house, settled on a valley overlooking the town. A far cry when he was growing up in a small house at the back of the town’s municipal hall. Many expensive real estate properties formerly owned by the early millionaires of our town were reportedly purchased by the senator.

Politicking came early in my hometown. Compared to those years when I was growing up and one of the first students in St. Catherine Academy, a school founded by the town’s leading businessmen of that era. There were few politicians who nursed ambitions in becoming the town executive. The well loved Higinio M. Gopez was the only mayor who wanted to retire but nobody wanted to run and take his place. He was my father’s nephew and younger brother of former Pampanga Governor Francisco G. Nepomuceno’s mother Agueda. He kept running unopposed until somebody thought of relieving him. Far cry from yesterday, in the current political situation in my hometown, there are already trolling on social media raising issues which are either true or unfounded.

In the meanwhile, the town is growing by leaps and bounds with more investors coming to town. The big players in property development led by the Ayalas are already in town. The latest among the Philippines’ business leaders making their sights on the once lethargic town are the Gokongweis and Sy families. The best is yet to come to my hometown. It will be soon as expected.

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