Only to withdraw – five days after – in favor of his wife, Nina Manipon Morales, who was nominated by the local Kambilan party last Oct 21.
“I’m withdrawing my candidacy for city mayor… I already served my cabalen for the past 21 years with humility and dignity at gusto kong pasalamatan ang mga kababayan ko sa lahat ng suporta.” He said, then.
Yesterday, Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales filed his COC for city mayor anew and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has accepted it, in what is heralded “a surprising twist widely accepted by the electorate.”
“Uni na ning lugud cu queng canacung indu, ing lugud cu queng canacung pamilya at lugud careng memalen, ing tune igpa ning siyudad Mabalacat, magbalik ku po pasibayu para magserbisyu kekayu, (For the love of my mother, my family and my constituents, as the real father of Mabalacat City, I have decided to return to serve you anew).” So was Morales quoted in a press release from his camp.
“Bowing out to popular clamor, the affable Morales has put himself on the line again replacing mayoral candidate Willie Feliciano of Aksyon Demokratiko, a move that is seen to provide sustainability to the developments that he laid out for the city,” the press release added.
“Ako po ay lubos na nagpapasalamat sa suporta na ibinibigay ng mga Mabalaquenos sa ating liderato. Ipagpapatuloy po natin ang ating nasimulan sa siyudad ng Mabalacat. Wala pong iwanan, sama sama po tayo sa pag unlad ng ating siyudad at ng ating pamumuhay, (I am grateful for the support the people of Mabalacat to my leadership. We will continue what we have started in the city. No one will be left behind, we shall be one in the development of our city and the prosperity of our lives,” said Morales after filing his COC anew.
The Morales camp insists that there are no legal impediments to his candidacy, claiming he is only in his second term as mayor of the newly- established Mabalacat City, citing the stand of topnotch election lawyer Romulo Macalintal.
Morales was first elected as mayor back in 1995 during the much needed reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the former Mabalacat town after the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions.
It was Morales’ stewardship that effected the conversion of Mabalacat into a component city in 2012, further raising its revenues.
Under Morales’ administration, the Mabalacat City College and the Mabalacat Community High School were also established. Other achievements include the city’s 10-year solid waste management (SWM) plan from 2015 to 2024; permanent housing projects for victims of the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions in Barangays Mawaque, Camachile and Madapdap; and vital infrastructures such as the Mabiga Interchange.
Morales was currently pushing for the development of the Mabalacat Perimeter Road that will connect Barangay San Francisco and SM Clark; and the construction of the Dolores Interchange that will connect the North directly to the Clark Freeport Zone.
Reactions
The press release cited some reactions to Morales’ running anew. Diosdado Pangilinan, of the Mabalacat Water District, noted that continued support of the Mabalaquenos on the Morales administration.
“Nais pong ipagpatuloy ni Mayor Morales ang mga magagandang programa na nasimulan niya. Lubos din po kaming nagpapasalamat sa ibat ibang sectors sa patuloy na suporta nila kay Mayor Morales.”
“Marami po ang mga positibong nagawa ni Mayor Morales para sa siyudad ng Mabalacat. Siya po ay nagsimula noong panahon ng rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts sa bayan ng Mabalacat. Marami nap o ang nagbago sa Mabalacat at sa pamumuhay ng mga tao,” said Gerry Dayrit, head of the Mabalacat Multi Sectoral Group.
The Mabalaqueños in Northern and Southern California have thrown their support to Mayor Morales because they saw the positive changes in Mabalacat City, according to Jonard Aquino.
“Napakarami po ang naging batayan namin upang suportahan pa ang administrasyon ni Morales,” said Aquino of San Francisco, US, who hails from Barangay San Francisco, Mabalacat.
Socio-civic and business leaders in the Mabalacat City have also thrown their support to the reelection bid of Morales.
This, after they learned the city coffer will get a projected income of P1.2 billion for 2016.
Morales’ wife Niña will withdraw her COC Wednesday.
