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Tinian election results certified
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Posted on Jan 31 2000
The Board of Elections has certified the results of the Jan. 22 special polls on Tinian which elected Jose Muna Dela Cruz into the Senate to complete the remaining term of former Sen. Herman M. Manglona.
Mr. Dela Cruz, a board member of the Commonwealth Development Authority representing the island municipality, edged out two other candidates by a margin of 35 votes over his closest rival.
The candidate of the Tinian Democratic Party, Mr. Dela Cruz garnered 379 votes as compared to 344 votes for Board of Public Lands Chair Manuel Pangelinan Villagomez, who ran under the Republican Party banner.
The other candidate, independent Richard Untalan Hofschneider, had 136 votes. BOE tallied about 1,046 votes cast during the election, including 40 absentee ballots.
The Jan. 22 political exercise capped more than four months of replacing Mr. Manglona who resigned from the Senate in September 1999 after pleading guilty to charges of bribery and mail fraud in the federal court involving U.S.-funded projects when he was still a mayor of Tinian. He is now serving a two-year jail sentence in Arizona federal prison.
Mr. Dela Cruz, who is expected to be sworn into office this week, will serve out the last two years of the four-year term of his predecessor, who was elected into office in November 1997.
Tinian political leaders have welcomed the addition of Mr. Dela Cruz who now completes the three-seat representation in the Senate for the island municipality.
Sen. David M. Cing, one of the leaders of the Democratic Party, won fresh mandate in the last midterm elections for a new four-year term, while the party’s candidate to the House of Representatives, Norman S. Palacios, belongs to the majority coalition in the lower chamber.
Sen. Joaquin M. Adriano, the lone Republican, is the head of the Tinian Legislative delegation.
According to Mr. Cing, this is a new block of Tinian politicians who have vowed to work in unity for the benefit of the island community.
