Reelected Puerto Princesa Mayor Bayron ‘bit surprised’ by turnout

Lucilo “Cecil” Rodriguez Bayron | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Lucilo Bayron

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Philippines — Mayor Lucilo Bayron said he did not expect that the mayoral race between him and Vice Mayor Maria Nancy Socrates would be a close one, noting that the margin of the turnout was so small.

Bayron was proclaimed by the Puerto Princesa City Board of Canvassers early Tuesday morning, May 13, after all the election returns were counted.

The mayor garnered a total of 73,445, which is only 1,646 votes more than Socrates’ 71,799.

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His daughter, Councilor Raine Bayron, who was his running mate, was not as lucky, however, after getting outlasted by Socrates’ running mate, former Councilor and lawyer Peter “Jimbo” Maristela.

Maristela got 79,539 votes while Raine received 63,016.

The mayor also stated that it would be up to Maristela, who had recently been critical of the city government’s infrastructure projects, whether or not he would support the city government’s programs and projects that he would implement.

“Because what I intend to do is to just continue whatever I was doing before,” he added in Filipino

He explained that with Maristela being a former ally, there was still a chance for them to get back together again.

“Everybody gets along in the end. You saw what happened between me and 04 back then? Anything is possible,” he said.

He was referring to the late Mayor Edward Hagedorn, with whom he also had a falling out back in 2013. They joined forces again in the 2022 elections, with Hagedorn winning as the 3rd District representative in the House

He then thanked his supporters, noting that although the election was hotly contested, it was generally peaceful.