MALOLOS
CITY—It is now official, reelected Bulacan Vice Governor Daniel Fernando earned
the highest vote of a local candidate in a single election in the history of
the province.
As
this developed, four other celebrity-turned politicians in the province lost in
the 2013 polls including comedian Long Mejia, actor Alex Castro, and singers
Imelda Papin and Rey Valera.
Lawyer
Elmo Duque, provincial election supervisor of Bulacan said that the actor
turned politician is voted by more than half of the 1,497,873 registered voters
in the province.
Fernando’s
certificate of canvass and proclamation showed that he received a total of
853,558 votes in the May 13 polls.
The
said number is higher than the more than 800,000 earned by reelected Governor Wilhelmino
Alvarado who ran unopposed, while Fernando battled two other candidates.
Duque
said that Fernando’s votes earned is the highest in the history of Bulacan.
When
asked if it is the highest number of votes earned by a local candidate in a
single election all of Luzon, Duque said, “I could only speak for this
province” referring to Bulacan.
Records
showed that that Fernando’s recent votes earned is higher than the more than
535,000 votes in the 2010 elections when he first won as vice governor of Bulacan.
In
an interview after his proclamation on Wednesday night, Fernando described the
number of votes he earned as “tsamba lang.”
With
regards to fellow actors and celebrities who lost in the May 13 elections in
Bulacan, the reelected vice governor advised them not to give up.
“May
bukas pa, kung talagang nasa puso ang paglilingkod,ituloy lang ninyo,” he said.
Fernando
was referring to actor Alex Castro and singer Rey Valera, who both lost in the
separate bids for the vice mayoral post in Marilao town and Meycauayan City.
Other
celebrities in the province who lost are singer Imelda Papin who lost he bid
for the lone congressional district of the City of San Jose Del Monte; and
comedian Long Mejia who for the second time lost his bid to become a municipal
councilor of Calumpit town.
Records
showed that Fernando’s first attempt in politics was in 1998 when he ran lost
as an independent vice mayor in his hometown of Guiguinto.
He
did not stop there, in 2001 and 2004 elections, he ran for the provincial Board
Member position and won, even earning him the title as a senior board member of
Bulacan.
In
2007, he ran for vice governor and lost to then Congressman Wilhelmino
Alvarado; but in 2010, Alvarado took Fernando as running mate and both of them
won.
Prior
to his entry into mainstream politics, Fernando was appointed as Sangguniang
Kabataan chairman in Barangay Tabang,Guiguinto in the early 80s, then pursued a
career in acting by joining theater groups.
In
the mid-80s, he starred in the now classic film “Scorpio Nights 1.” Dino Balabo