By Mortz C. Ortigoza
MANGALDAN – Candidates for the May 14
Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) all over the
country brave the scorching summer sun and the inconveniences of a long queue
just to file their Certificate of Candidacy (COC) at the offices of the Commission
on Election because of the magic brought by April 18.
Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan Mayor Carlito Zaplan and
Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Roberto Arcinue said that candidates in the 44 towns and
four towns’ Pangasinan province observe this superstition since time
immemorial.
LUCK - Candidates for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan
Election (BSKE) in Mangaldan, Pangasinan scramble inside the limited space of
the Election Registrar of the Commission of Election in the Central
Pangasinan’s town because of the supposed luck brought by 8 in April 18. MORTZ
C. ORTIGOZA
Both chief executives said the Comelec offices in
their towns were jam packed with scrambling zealots.
Punong Barangay (Barangay Chief) Alicia Velasquez
of Pogo this town cited that the April 18 mad rushed at the Comelec was
phenomenal in the entire country.
“Pataas e, saka itong araw na ito araw na pinakamatigas,” Dante Enriquez Cera, a seasoned radio commentator who vied for
re-election for the Sangguniang Barangay (Village Legislative Body) of Banaoang
of this burgeoning town, cited.
He said that the diagonal and curve lines of ocho
or “8” in 18 goes up to the end point.
He cited that April 15 brings luck too to bets
because the singko or “5” has an upper end tip point.
The filling of CoC started last April 14 and ended
at 5 pm of April 21.
According to numerology.com, 8 is the
great Karmic equalizer, a force that just as easily creates as it destroys.
When the 8 comes knocking, you can be assured that you will reap what
you have sown. The 8 balances the material and immaterial worlds. At
its best, it is as spiritual as it is materialistic.
Deo Lopez, a radio reporter, cited that “20” just
like “18” gave lucks to candidates because of the circle around “0”.
Punong Barangay Velasquez said, like what Cera
explained, that the last digit 8 has its diagonal and curve lines.
“This is different because of 18,” she said in Pangasinense.
She compared the sluggish influx of candidates last
April 16 to the wild hurry of bets in April 18.
Velasquez brought her entire ticket of seven bets
for the council while her opponent and his entire ticket had filled their
candidacies in April 16.
When asked that they will lose because the “16” in
April has no significane versus the “18” in April, Velasquez chuckled and
differed.
“ Ha ha ha, depende sa kagustuhan ni Lord”.
The Lord she mentioned was the Powerful Lord Almighty’s King of the Universe who is worshipped by the Christian World and not the illegal number Jueteng Lords in 44 towns and 4 cities’ Pangasinan province who are worshipped by politicians because of their propensity to give huge financial supports to some bets for a chance to win the poll.
Comelec records in Pangasinan say that there were a total of 1,276
and 8, 991 candidates who filed their COCs for the village's top post and the
Sangguniang Barangay (SB), respectively on April 18.
Meanwhile, there were 1,132 and 8, 188 bets that filled for the
Punong Barangay and SB posts, respectively, for April 14 to 17.
For the SK, there were 651 and 2,426 candidates who filed their
COCs for the youth body’s top post and council membership, respectively on the
April 18 while 788 and 2,653 submitted their COCs for the SK Chairmanship and
Council’s post, respectively, four days prior to April 18.
Punong Barangay bet Salvador Visperas de Guzman of
Amansabina cited what he read on the Lunario (Lunar Calendar) that “16” and
“18” were the luckiest numbers in the six days filing of CoC’s period.
NARCS TEST - Bets for the Punong Barangay (Village Chief) and
Sangguniang Barangay (Village Legislative Body) wait for the result of their
drug test as they converged to the gymnasium of Lingayen, Pangasinan to be
included in the test as the police warned those non-cooperative candidates that
they would be monitored for any narcotics related activities. MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA
“Para sa akin din maganda ang 16 kaso kabilugan ng buwan. Maganda
rin kaso marami doon ang negatives na nandoon. 16 to 18 maganda. 20 not
maganda”.
But there are non-believers on this superstition
that became a practice of Filipinos since the Spanish colonization of the
country centuries ago.
“Wala, superstitious belief on the number, the belief!” Maryknoll Pangan Soriano, a Bachelor of Laws graduate, who ran for the
chairmanship of Barangay Tebag here, declared.
When egged why she still filed with her ticket and
not on the following day of April 19, she said most of her bets felt better to
file simultaneously on the 18th.
De Guzman who understands the nuances of the
Lunario and astrological signs, was skeptical however about his Wednesday or
April 18 filling of his CoC despite comprehensively reading the Calendar. What
concerned him was the dilemma he faces against the financial juggernaut of Ramon
Mejia, the brother of Dr. Roland Mejia, the Director of the Region-1 Medical
Center (R1MC), in Barangay Amansabina.
Director Mejia is dubbed as the Medical Czar in the
humongous province and was rumored to aid the mayoralty candidate of this town
in the May 9, 2016 election.
De Guzman also lamented the desertion of his two
bets for the council to the camp of his rival.
“Nabili ang dalawang member ng slate ko”.
He said he would be enmeshed in a three-cornered
fight for the Kapitan’s post in his village.
BROADCASTERS: Dagupan City radio based broadcasters Dante Enriquez
Cera and Deo Lopez explained the importance of the Lucky 8 in April 18 why they
have to shove and jostle with other candidates to beat the date in filling
their Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the elective post of the village
legislative body. MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA
Punong Barangay candidate Dante Paragas, a former
aid of then Lingayen Mayor Jonas Castaneda, said he and his ticket motored for
more than an hour at early dawn last Wednesday to the miraculous Our Lady of
Manaoag Church in Manaoag town, Pangasinan for the real Lord’s blessing, went
to the Comelec in the capital town’s Lingayen at 8:30 am on the same day and
joined the sea of bets that wiggled in to submit their CoC to the officials
there.
“We finally submitted our C.O.Cs at 6:30 pm. It was tough
inserting ourselves, but we have to file it on the 18th of
April,” he stressed.
With the Almighty’s blessing in Manaoag and the
luck April 18 gave him and his ticket, he said his party is a force to reckon
versus his two opponents who did not file on the 18th.
In the 2013 village poll, he lost and had a
fall-out with then Mayor Castaneda because the latter supported the incumbent
village chief and ignored him despite his being a faithful gofer to the mayor
for countless of years by running errands and driving his Sports Utility
Vehicle.
(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and
articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at
totomortz@yahoo.com)
