Ex-cabbie ends 30-year clan rule in Oriental Mindoro

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A former taxi driver has put an end to three decades of the reign of a single political clan in Oriental Mindoro.

Salvador Paulino “Doy” Leachon, mayor of Calapan City, won in the congressional race against Nico Valencia, son of outgoing Rep. Rodolfo Valencia, and ended the Valencias’ 30 years of rule in Mindoro.

In a statement, Leachon said he won despite what he said was black propaganda launched by his rivals.

He led by 32,000 votes against the younger Valencia, winning by landslide in at least seven out of eight towns.

“It was the end of a long political reign for a political family who held sway in Oriental Mindoro for 30 years,” he said in his statement.

He juggled odd jobs before becoming a public servant.

While in his early college years in San Beda College taking up Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, he worked as a taxi driver on the streets of Manila to make ends meet and as a crew member of a Jollibee fast food outlet.