Sta. Maria, Pangasinan—A stunning upset in the recent barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections happened in this agricultural municipality when a truck driver outvoted a former municipal mayor by 29 votes.
The driver, Segundino “Jojo” Esquijo, 50, married and father of one, defeated former mayor Pinky Odero Ginez in barangay San Mariano here.
Esquijo, who ran with no political machinery except a painstaking house-to-house campaign with a vow to render round-the-clock work to the village, was in tears when the election tally showed him the clear winner.
Although tacitly supported by incumbent Mayor Teddy Ramos, Esquijo still polled 228 votes to Ginez’s 199.
Elected councilors with him were Erwin Mendillo, Benjie Surrel, Danilo Cardenas, Servillano dela Cruz, Renato Rey, Ferdinand Orbillo and Elizabeth Pasion.
Ginez is the wife of former mayor Choi Ginez and together had ruled the town for more than 20 years.
Their political leadership of Sta. Maria ended when Ramos ran and defeated reelectionist mayor Choi Ginez in 2010.
