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Valencia City mayor-elect Junamie Galario (center) was proclaimed winner on Tuesday, 13 May 2024. Photo from City Government of Valencia, Bukidnon FB pageMALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 13 May) – The mother and daughter tandem of Junamie Galario and Cecil Galario, who ran as independents, have been proclaimed winners in the contest for mayor and vice mayor, respectively, in neighboring Valencia City.
Lawyer Lee Ebarle, Valencia City election officer, held the proclamation at the Sangguniang Panlungsod building around 2 a.m. Tuesday.
The older Galario defeated lawyer Ted Pepito and (Partido Federal ng Pilipinas) and Dodong Rosal (National Unity Party).
Junamie’s real name is Amie, but she combined it with her husband’s (Jose Galario Jr.) moniker “Jun” apparently for name recall, as he was also a city mayor.
The victory marks the family’s return to power after 11 years.
Jose first became mayor in 2001, in an upset win over long-time Bukidnon governor Carlos O. Fortich, who died in 2019.
He lost the mayorship to Leandro Jose Catarata in 2007 and again in 2010. He regained the post in 2013 but his term was cut short in 2014 after he was convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan for the illegal transfer of then city budget officer Ruth Piano to a different post.
Jose, who was given conditional pardon by President Duterte, filed a certificate of candidacy (COC) for the May 9, 2022 elections even if his penalty for graft perpetually barred him from holding any public office.
Incumbent Mayor Azucena Huervas filed in October 2021 a petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to nullify Galario’s COC, arguing that the conditional pardon did not restore his full civil and political rights. But it was only in late April 2022 that the Comelec issued a decision granting the petition.
Galario’s camp said they would appeal Comelec’s decision up to the Supreme Court. But Huervas’ victory rendered the issue moot and academic.
In the 2004 general elections, Jose tried to expand his political reach by fielding his lawyer-son Glen Galario as Bukidnon 2nd representative in a contest won by Teofisto “TG” Guingona III.
Glen later won as city councilor and as vice mayor. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)
