How many mayors of the fifth district of Negros Occidental will support the congressional bid of Binalbagan Mayor Alejandro Mirasol today?

Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday said that at a caucus today the  United Negros Alliance is most likely to endorse  Mirasol as its official candidate for congressman of the  fifth district of Negros Occidental in the special election set June 2, with the announcement of Board Member Melvin Ibañez that he  is giving way  to him.

The fifth congressional seat was declared vacant following the death of Rep. Ignacio Arroyo Jr. on January 26.

The fifth district  is composed of Himamaylan City, Binalbagan, Hinigaran, Isabela, La Castellana and Moises Padilla towns.

 Mayors Hermilo Aguilar of Hinigaran  and Francisco Nazareno of Moises Padilla  yesterday said they are supporting Mirsaol for congressman.

But Binalbagan Mayor Augustin Ernesto Gatuslao Bascon is supporting a non UNA member, Board Member Emilio Yulo III.

Bascon said that, in supporting Yulo, he is sticking with family over party. “Family will always be there until you die, politics passes,” he said.

 Yulo’s wife, Rosalie Gatuslao, is  the daughter of the former mayor of Himamaylan, Hernan Gastulao.

Asked if he would attend the UNA caucus today, Bascon said he had not been informed about it.

However, his uncle, former Assemblyman Antonio Gatuslao said the majority  of his group are opting to support Mirsaol and they will officially announce their stand  after Holy Week.

He said the opposition in Himamaylan are supporting Mirasol.

Isabela Mayor Francisco Malabor said  his choice will depend on who is the governor’s, but if his brother, former mayor Renato Malabor runs for congressman, he will support him.

La Castellana Mayor Alberto Nicor Jr., a close ally of likely congressional candidate former Board Member Enrique Montilla, could not be reached for comment.

Montilla said  he would like to run for congressman of the fifth district but is still considering it.

If he runs for congressman, Montilla said, he believes Nicor  is  likely to support him.

                               CAUCUS

The governor said the mayors of the fifth district of Negros Occidental have been invited to the UNA caucus at noon today.

He said the party will consider all members of UNA who wish to run for the post.

“UNA will back the candidate it endorses, we believe our candidate will win,” Marañon said.

                    COMELEC

Meanwhile, Provincial Election  Supervisor Jessie Suarez yesterday said he expects the official calendar of activities for the June 2 special election to be released soon.

He expects the filing of Certificates of Candidacy to be from May 13 to 15 and the campaign period to be from May 16 to midnight of May 31.

The COMELEC has approved a budget of P21,669,325 for the  special election

It also ordered that the January 2012 List of Voters and the clustering of precincts  scheme used during the October 25, 2010 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections be used for the June 2 polls, Suarez added.

As of January 2012 the number of registered voters in the fifth district was 206,466 with 29,200 in Binalbagan, 41,682 in Hinigaran, 28,835 in Isabela,  35,307 in La Castellana, 20,936 in Moises Padilla and 50,506 in Himamaylan City.*CPG

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