TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) — A lawyer who lost twice in the past elections will try his luck again in next year’s polls, running against a family member of one of the country’s oldest political plan.
Fiel Clemencio will run against former beauty queen Yedda Marie Romualdez, the wife of senatorial aspirant and current Leyte first district Rep. Ferdinand Martin. The lawmaker is the nephew of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos
The lawyer who won against Romualdez in 5 out of the 7 towns in the district in 2010, said that aside from the fact that he has good chance in the 2016 elections, the need for the people of the first district of Leyte to be truly represented in Congress, pushed him to try his luck for the third time.
Both Romualdez and Clemencio filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) on Friday. Clemencio personally showed up while a lawyer filed a COC in behalf of the 1996 Binibining Pilipinas-International winner.
Clemencio, an independent candidate, enumerated his five platforms. First is the anti-graft and corruption program, which he demands for an immediate accounting of all donations received by the Philippine government for the victims of super typhoon Yolanda.
The contender also seeks immediate rehabilitation of the coconut industry in the province by securing funds for the needed coconut replanting program.
Under the industrial development program, he is proposing to secure legislation for the creation of an export processing authority and free trade zone authority in the first district of Leyte.
He also vowed to secure legislation providing emergency educational assistance fund for victims of super typhoon Yolanda.
For local governance, Clemencio will push for legislation granting retirement benefits to all village officials and in hike the internal revenue allotment shares of all towns.
In 2010, the lawyer lost to Ferdinand Martin for just a small margin. The solon dominated in the vote-rich Tacloban, a city controlled by the Romualdez family.
Clemencio is optimistic of his chance to succeed next year since voters are wiser now after they have seen how local officials responded in the aftermath of the 2013 catastrophe. (PNA)
RMA/LOR/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/EGR
