Olongapo City’s Paulino seen to win reelection bid for mayor

Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. shows off the indelible ink on his finger after casting his vote on Monday, May 9. Paulino is poised to win his reelection bid after leading the mayoral contest by a wide margin. (Photo from Paulino’s Facebook page)

OLONGAPO CITY—Reelectionist Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. is poised to win his second term after leading his closest rival by 24,503 votes as reflected in partial and unofficial results on Tuesday morning.

Votes for Paulino, a lawyer, have reached 49,955, with 94.77 percent of election returns already counted as of 7:32 a.m.

In second place is Echie Ponge, a village chief in the city, who obtained 25,452 votes. Ranked third is Arnold Vegafria, a talent manager and Miss World Philippines national director.

The city’s former first lady, Anne Gordon, was fourth, while independent candidate Boy Cunanan was fifth.

In the vice mayoral race, reelectionist Jong Cortez leads with 50,314 votes against the 31, 036 votes of second-ranked Jack Gardon.