Ecija village chief takes oath as Talavera mayor
TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija – This town’s barangay captain is now elected as the municipal mayor and sworn into office during formal ceremonies on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
Barangay Sampaloc Chairman and Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President Nerito “JR” Santos Jr. took his oath of office as the new local chief executive and is considered a “historical” in the town’s electoral history.
A licensed civil engineer, Santos Jr., the only son of municipal administrator Nerito L. Santos Sr., a former three-term mayor who served from 2004-2013, succeeded his elder sister, outgoing three-term Mayor Nerivi Santos-Martinez.
The latter will now assume her new role as the town’s elected vice mayor.
Santos-Martinez, who created programs aimed at progress and development during her tenure as mayor from 2013 until 2022 after her father’s term, said it was a “mission accomplished” when she spoke after formally turning over her post to her brother during formal rites held at the Talavera National High School in Bgy. Pagasa here.
Santos Jr. said that being elected as the town mayor was a “fulfillment of his childhood dream when he was still in high school,” noting “the pain and heartache” he endured when his father, Nerito Santos Sr., a former Cabanatuan City Engineer, lost his first stab at politics as mayor during the 2001 polls here.
Santos-Martinez, who previously served as municipal administrator during her father’s term, said they owed everything to their patriarch – Nerito Sr., describing him as the “chief architect” of the town’s progress as it now aims to become Nueva Ecija’s sixth component city during the incoming new administration.
Also inducted into office as the new members of the Sangguniang Bayan were Aries Gaboy Lim, Rai-Rai Villanueva, Baby Palilio, Nel Rayo, Joel Del Rosario, Lito Silva, Ape Reyes, and Erwin Chioco.
