ANGELES CITY—“Choose track record rather than popularity.”
This is what voters of Angeles must consider, according to Balibago barangay chairman Rodelio ‘Tony’ Mamac, in choosing the city’s next mayor for the local elections on May 13.
Balibago is the city’s largest barangay with a population of 50,734 and with 15,813 registered voters based on a recent Comelec list.
“Among the three serious candidates, only Alex Cauguiran stands out as the one with a solid track record of achievements,” Mamac said.
Speaking with media during a recent Women’s Day celebration in Balibago, Mamac pointed to Cauguiran’s “exemplary achievements as city hall chief-of-staff and the increase in flights and revenues at the Clark airport under his term,” among several accomplishments of the erstwhile airport executive.
“Compared to more popular political surnames, (Cauguiran’s) roots come from an ordinary Angeleño family but his achievements for Clark and the people of Angeles make him the most qualified to lead the city,” Mamac added.
“In this information age, track records are facts for all to see, and not mere publicity by some politicians who claim to be advocates of a progressive Clark only during election season,” Mamac, a bemedaled police officer prior to entering politics in 2007, said.
The Clark International Airport Corporation, headed by Cauguiran from 2016 to 2018, made recent headlines when it registered gross revenues of P1.07-billion in 2018, along with a two-star on-time performance or OTP rating from the London-based international body Official Aviation Guide (OAG), dual milestones unprecedented in the corporation’s 24-year history.
The other mayoralty candidates are incumbent Vice Mayor Bryan Nepomuceno and Councilor Carmelo ‘Pogi’ Lazatin, both belonging to wealthy clans of politicians.
“Cauguiran was a street parliamentarian and organizer of the masses, an expert in disaster and crisis management, an enforcer of discipline at the city hall, and a results-oriented administrator. This is the style of leadership the city needs,” Mamac said.
Cauguiran is the official mayoralty candidate of KAMBILAN Party, Pampanga’s biggest political party led by Governor Lilia Pineda.
Mamac started serving as village chief in 2007, with gaps in between his terms. In December 2018, he took over as barangay chairman following the demise of former Pampanga 1st District Representative and City Mayor Carmelo Feliciano Lazatin, known to many as ‘Tarzan’.