STA. ANA -- A lawyer and president of the lone tertiary school in this town, Holy Cross College, has formally declared his intention to seek the municipality's top position.
Lawyer Dennis C. Pangan of Barangay San Nicolas here will throw his hat again in the local political arena with a vision of improving the town's economy and the quality of life of its people.
Pangan, who is originally from the town's Poblacion area, was at the top of his class during his high school at Holy Cross College and college at the University Assumption, and also ranked 17th in the 1993 Philippine Bar examination.
In 2013, Pangan already ran for the same position against then re-electionist former Mayor Rommel "Omeng" Concepcion and now incumbent Mayor Norberto "Ross" Gamboa, but lost to Concepcion by a slim margin.
This coming election, the aspiring mayor will be teaming up with Concepcion who will seek the vice-mayoralty post.
Four aspiring councilors namely Oday Nacpil, Ephraim Matias, Greg Del Rosario, and Tek Concepcion will complete the lineup of the Pangan-Concepcion team.
If given a chance, Pangan said he will attend to the pressing problems of the municipality, such as proper waste management and pandemic response, both on health, social, and economic aspects.
"During this pandemic, the people of Sta. Ana deserves to get what is due to them, and the government must work for its people's benefit, and not for anybody else. And after we beat Covid-19, we are facing a bigger challenge of reviving our economy and the town needs a good leader that can help cultivate its potential," he said.
The aspiring mayor disclosed his plan to create a business hub that will help invite more investors to do business in the town and provide more employment to locals.
He also intends to improve the quality of education for public school students by providing free Wifi connections to all households in towns.
He likewise shared his dream of constructing a local public hospital that will provide free but quality health service to residents here.
"Honestly, these dreams cannot be achieved if we rely on local funds alone. That is why I am banking on a public-private partnership kind of governance where we can seek assistance from other government agencies as well as from our friends in the private sector," Pangan said.
Pangan is expected to face Gamboa who is just on his second term in the town's mayoralty race in the coming May 2022 polls.