by Miriam G. Desacada
Borongan City—In a stunning upset, Christopher “Sheen” Gonzales, son-in-law of House Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan, unseated incumbent Rep. Maria Fe Abunda from her congressional post for Eastern Samar’s lone district.
Gonzales, former Eastern Samar vice governor and Guiuan town mayor, clinched victory with a commanding lead of 177,413 votes over Abunda’s 106,781, and was officially proclaimed on May 13 by the provincial board of canvassers.
Gonzales is married to Eloisa, daughter of Libanan who, in the past, held this congressional seat for three terms or nine consecutive years, before Abunda’s.
Fe Abunda, sister of renowned television host Boy Abunda, was seeking a third and final term, and her showbiz celebrity brother accompanied her throughout the campaign across the province, but to no avail.
Gonzales’ victory was bolstered by the support of 19 out of 22 incumbent mayors of Eastern Samar who earlier signed a manifesto endorsing his candidacy.
For her defeat, Abunda told reporters in a post-election presscon, she said that with all her heart she had accepted her fate. “Maybe the Lord has other plans for me,” she said assertively, adding that she is now going to put order into her life, which she said she somehow neglected in favor of serving her constituents.
Abunda said she has no plans for the future, as she has to take a rest from public life, but will go into business and still work better as a private citizen. “This could be my destiny,” she said but the elections revealed who her true friends are, and who stood by her through the challenging chapter of the elections.
“Don’t worry about me now,” she said, as her bigger concern are the people of Eastern Samar. “We shall unite, we shall help each other, and let us raise our province off its poverty level,” she said, adding that she left behind a province filled with many new investors that offer job opportunities to the people.
“After being the first female mayor of Borongan City, and the first female representative of Eastern Samar, I treasured my experience in Congress where I gained much knowledge on legislative works and the leadership of Speaker Romualdez,” she remarked.
Abunda then thanked her supporters and those who placed their trust on her by voting for her.
Meanwhile, Libanan is set to begin his second term as the representative of the 4Ps party-list after the group secured nearly 1.5 million votes, which was fourth highest number of votes nationwide, trailing only behind Akbayan, Duterte Youth, and Tingog.
“This vote of confidence from the Filipino people is a clear affirmation of the work we have done – and a powerful motivation for us to work even harder to improve lives,” Libanan said in a statement. —Miriam G. Desacada