ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Reelectionist Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, her running mate, and majority of the council aspirants in the “Team Climaco” have been proclaimed as “winners” in the May 13 mid-term polls.
Five of the “Team Climaco’s” council aspirants won in the first district while four in the second district. The rest of the winners belongs to the “Red Team” or “Team Lobregat”.
Salazar and her party mates were proclaimed late Thursday by the City Board of Canvassers (CBOC) headed by Lawyer Jan Christian Babiera, second district election officer.
Salazar has been re-elected mayor on her third term of office as she garnered 140,362 votes against her closest rival, First District Rep. Celso Lobregat, with 107,621 votes. There were five candidates for mayor.
Salazar’s running mate, Lawyer and Councilor Rommel Agan, won in the vice mayoralty race with 104,976 votes while his closest rival, lawyer and former City councilor Melchor Rey Sadain, acquired 97,545 votes. Three candidates have ran for vice mayor.
The winners for city councilors in the first district and the votes they garnered were as follows: Councilor Josephine Pareja, 75,546; Councilor Elbert Atilano 61,638; Ayala Barangay Councilor Khymer Olaso 54,644; Councilor Joselito Macrohon, 54,050; former Councilor Rogelio Valesco, 52,516; Councilor Cesar Jimenez, 50,673; former priest Crisanto Dela Cruz, 50,558; and, Calarian Barangay Chairperson El King Omaga, 47,240.
Olaso, Macrohon, and Valesco belong to the “Team Lobregat.”
The winners in the second district and the votes they acquired were the following: Tetuan Barangay Chairperson John Dalipe, 85,745; Councilor Benjamin Guingona IV, 66,819; Councilor Juan Climaco Elago II, 64,548; Councilor Lilibeth Nuño, 60,819; Councilor Miguel Alavar III, 60,430; Councilor Al-Jihan Edding, 59,798; Councilor Jimmy Villaflores, 58,341; and, former Councilor Vincent Paul Elago, 50,603.
Guingona, Nuño, Alavar, and Vincent Paul Elago ran under the “Team Lobregat.”
Salazar vowed to strengthen her program on security, health, and education.
The winning candidates have expressed their gratitude to the local electorates for their support in the mid-term polls. (PNA)
