The candidate for president of the Philippine Councillors League, Bohol chapter, must be “too loaded” for comfort to possible adversaries that they opted to let him go uncontested. This surfaced the other day as Carmen Municipal Councilor Ramonito “Monching” Torrefranca romped away with the presidency without having to sweat it out against opponents who were equally deserving to the coveted post. Too loaded here was taken too mean not that Torrefranca is a heavyweight quite literally but having been supported by a full house of Bohol heavy hitters in politics making him a hard nut to crack. There were overtures earlier that City Councilor Leonides Borja was making a go for the PCL presidency against the Carmen lawmaker but decided to forego his bid at the last minute. It must be that Borja was confronted with the reality that the whole caboodle of Gov. Edgar Chatto, V-Gov. Concepcion Lim and the three Congressmen Rene Relampagos, Erico Aumentado and Arthur Yap were behind Torrefranca's bid. When the last ballot was counted, the winner polled a total of 401 votes cast during the election and assembly of municipal councilors of 47 towns and one city held Friday at the Bohol Plaza Resort in Dauis town.

Torrefranca was proclaimed along with other officers-elect early Sunday dawn by Provincial Local Government Officer Rose Mascarinas after the canvassing of votes that lasted in the wee hours of dawn Satuyrday. His victory was assured earlier of the day when Borja withdrew his candidacy for president against him. Also elected into office was Ariel Lungay of Catigbian, executive vice-president who was contested by Loay Councilor Tony Supanga. Lungay got a total votes of 298 as against Supanga's 94. Of the 14 bets, only eight topped the election to compose the board of directors. They are councilors Felix Tan, who got 220 votes; Constancio Atuel, 209; Jescelo Adiong of Loay, 190; Danilo Cal, 182; Leonides Borja, 175; Danilo Bandala of Corella, 152; Nicomedes Tago, 124; and Carmen Jaminal of G-Hernandez, 117. Other uncontested officers-elect are Councilors Calixto Garcia of Valencia vice-prsident for external affairs; Nimfa Lloren of Jagna, VP for internal affairs; Bernard Lansang of Balilihan, VP for 1 st district; Ranie Torregosa, VP for 2 nd dist; and Julieta Senen Tan of Alicia, VP for 3 rd district.

Councilors Ephraim Licayan of Guindulman as secretary-general; Renato Villaber of Tubigon, deputy secretary-general; Ricky Masamayor, treasurer; Manuel Gara, assistant treasurer; Teodoro Ruizol of Calape, auditor; Victoriano Dellosa, assistant auditor; Cesar Cagulada of Jagna, business manager; Jose Allan Tinaja, assistant business manager; and councilors Asterio Coquilla, Vicente Auza and Antonio Po (Candijay), public relations officers for 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd districts, respectively. To the surprise of most members, who thought only the presidency was likely to be contested, Supanga was pitted against Lungay. The Loay councillor was reportedly fielded by Board Member Brigido Imboy. Former movie actress Alma Moreno-Salic, PCL national executive vice-president, came over to grace the occasion, together with its national president Ronald Calcillar.

Gov. Chatto, who was the guest speaker of the first PCL Provincial Congress under the Chatto-Lim administration, assured that “the Capitol is 101% behind PCL and its programs and is now trying to come up with management enhancement courses to hone the capabilities of its members.” Gov. Chatto was optimistic that the 482-strong PCL membership is a good training ground for those who have the strong determination and leadership qualities to help the league reach higher goals. “The PCL,” according to the governor, “is a gathering where legislators of Bohol can put the province's framework and agenda into one common perspective.” It is very important that the visions and strategies of our people “can cascade down to the municipalities so that our framework will be built on one strong foundation,” Chatto added. On same occasion, Tagbilaran City Councilor Kit Oppus was sworn in as the appointed Chair on the Committee on Health and Sports of the National PCL. The PCL then gave thanks to Chatto for the release of P100,000.00 for said provincial congress. (jlv/EDCom)