ANGELES CITY – The Zambales provincial board has passed a resolution urging the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and Congress to immediately slate special elections to fill in the vacancy left by the late Rep. Antonio Diaz in the second district of the province.
Zambales Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain II, who is presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in his province, said board members were unanimous in the resolution which cited the need for the people in the second district to be represented in Congress.
He said that during his term, Diaz had allocated almost all his Priority Development Assistant Program (PDAP) for the benefit of several hundreds of elementary, high school, college and vocational-technical scholars.
“The parents of these scholars are now worried. On their own, they could not support the education of their children, so they want someone who could fill in the shoes of Diaz and assure them of continuing scholarships for their children,” he said.
Lacbain said the resolution cited R.A. 7166 which empowered the Comelec to hold special elections not earlier than 60 days but not later than 90 days after a vacuum in a political post.
“We are appealing to the Comelec and Congress to set immediately a special elections in the second district which covers 10 towns, as compared to the first district which has only three towns,” he said.
Lacbain said the death of Diaz was “a big loss to Zambales” which, he noted, “deserves to have three and not just two districts.”
He said that names of possible congressional candidates have already surfaced, including Diaz’s son Ricky Diaz, board members Wilfredo Pangan and Sancho Abasta, Jr, former Vice Gov. Cheryl Deloso-Montalla, provincial administrator Jun Omar Ebdane, former board member Renato Collado, and balikbayan Edwin Mendaros.
