By: Anselmo Roque, Yolanda Sotelo
@inquirerdotnet
Inquirer Central Luzon, Inquirer Northern Luzon
12:24 AM October 5th, 2015
POLITICS has a way of dividing families, friends and supposedly close political allies.
In La Union, the 2016 national and local elections will pit an Ortega against an Ortega, with brothers and uncles running against each other for key offices in the province.
The Ortega clan has dominated La Union politics for more than a century.
For a seat in the House of Representatives, incumbent San Fernando City Mayor Pablo Ortega will fight his brother, Senior Board Member Francisco “Kit†Ortega Jr., and nephew, Board Member Emmanuel Victor “Mannix†Ortega, son of La Union Gov. Manuel Ortega, who is retiring from politics after his last term.
But former San Fernando Mayor Mary Jane Ortega, wife of incumbent La Union Rep. Victor Ortega, said she had yet to talk to her brother-in-law, Francisco Jr., to clarify his plans for 2016.
“Pablo has the support of Victor Ortega (brother of Pablo, Manuel and Francisco Jr.) and almost all of the barangay captains in the province,†said a source, who asked not to be identified.
Victor is serving his last term in the House and is planning to run for mayor of San Fernando City.
In the gubernatorial race, another brother, Mario Ortega, will slug it out with nephew Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III, another son of Governor Ortega.
Ortega III is ending his last term in the House as Abono party-list nominee. Mario serves as the governor’s executive secretary and is a former president of the Provincial Federation of the Association of Barangay Councils.
In the mayoral race in San Fernando, Victor Ortega may clash with brother Jose Maria “Pepe†Ortega, who lost the 2013 vice mayoral race.
In Pangasinan province, a husband and his wife will be running against a son and father in the gubernatorial and congressional races.
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Topic: In La Union elections, it’s Ortega vs Ortega (Read 1038 times)