Daniel Aquino: Third time’s the charm

Independent Daniel “Iwashita” Aquino won the second seat for the Precinct 2 House of Representatives in yesterday’s 2024 general elections.

The former head of the Commonwealth Bureau of Military Affairs received 559 votes or 33.45% of total ballots cast, while fellow independent candidate Diego M. Sablan garnered the lowest vote of 412 or 24.66%. Incumbent Rep. Paul Sablan (Ind-Saipan) topped the results in Precinct 2 with 700 votes or 41.89% of all the votes.

“This is my third time to run for Precinct 2 House. It was the most difficult and challenging one since I was going against an incumbent and a coalition of incumbents. Despite the challenges, I knew that I had a strong base and needed to just go out and knock on doors and ask for votes. It actually made me see just how bad the state of one village was,” said Aquino.

It was in August of this year when Aquino was fired from his position as special assistant to the governor for military affairs and the head of the CBMA and on Aug. 7 he filed his candidacy.

According to Aquino, the termination of his employment was an act of retaliation since he is running against the administration’s Precinct 2 candidates Rep. Paul P. Sablan and Substance Abuse Addiction and Rehabilitation Program special assistant Diego M. Sablan.

“Despite the ‘wrongful termination,’ I received a lot of support and words of encouragement to continue my journey. I stayed focused on the people of Precinct 2 and will always put them first and include them in the decision-making process of bills and important things affecting our community.”

When asked about the first thing he will do once seated in the office, he said that he will start with assessing the villages.

“I will look at the needs of our villages and begin the task of rebuilding our community and fulfilling my campaign promises which is to work hard, work hard, and work hard.”

Municipal council, BOE results

The municipal councils for Rota, Tinian and Aguiguan, and Saipan and Northern Islands are composed of three members, elected at-large, in the island or islands and will serve on a non-partisan basis in a two-year term.

Saipan and Northern Islands winners are Marian DeLeon Guerrero who garnered the highest number of votes with 6,190 or 33.58%, followed by Carmen Cabrera Pangelinan who got 6,138 votes or 33.29%, and Antonio Manibusan Tudela who received 6,108 votes or 33.13%.

For the islands of Tinian and Aguiguan, Ana Marie Cruz San Nicolas earned 737 votes or 34.23%, followed by Joseph Romaldo Evangelista Santos with 711 votes or 33.02% and Estevan Pangelinan Cabrera with 705 votes or 32.75%.

On Rota, the island with four candidates was topped by Jonovan Hocog Lizama who garnered 950 votes or 29.61% followed by Sandra Mesngon Masga with 835 votes or 26.03%, and Tillie Castro came in third with 823 votes or 25.65% votes. Jim Michael Atalig received 600 votes and outside the Top 3.

Meanwhile, for the Board of Education of Saipan, Aschumar Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong earned 4,889 votes or 29.99% and Maisie Tenorio with 3,816 votes or 23.41% were the winners. Outside looking in were Gregory Pat Borja, Juan Iguel Tenorio, and Martin Borja Ada, garnering 2,622, 2,335, and 2,639 votes, respectively.

For Rota’s BOE seat, Anthony Wayne Barcinas ran unopposed and received 1,155 votes.