Wally Nunez Leads Six P.U.P. Councillors Back to SP Town Hall

The electorate also sent a resounding message in La Isla Bonita on Election Day, as the blue machine proved to be far more effective. Wally Nunez and his slate of six councilors were returned to serve on the town council for a second consecutive term in a town that was, prior to that, predominantly U.D.P. territory. Voters began to stream in steadily soon after the polls opened and then waned a bit around the lunch hour, but picked up again towards the close of the polls. All in all, the voting went peacefully, with both major political parties shuttling their supporters to the polls and the only independent candidate meeting people just before they entered the polling stations. At the end of it all, the P.U.P. team led by Wally Nunez blew away the competition by a rough ratio of three to one. For the P.U.P. team, they collected votes in the three thousand series, while the U.D.P. slate received votes in the one thousand series. Independent Mayoral Candidate, Abner Bacab got sixty-three votes. News Five’s Marion Ali did the honours on Election Day coverage in San Pedro and filed this report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Things got off to a fairly busy start when the polls opened in San Pedro and remained that way for a few hours, with voters forming decent lines at the two polling stations. And from as early as then, the three mayoral candidates were out trying to win those votes.

 

Wilfredo Alamilla, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, San Pedro

“We have been listening to the people. We have been campaigning since, October and what we’re doing, we’ve been doing some canvassing. We have been getting their basic information, and we asked them that we really want to hear from them, because we take it as a plan of work with listening to their concerns.”

 

Wally Nunez, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate, San Pedro

“It was quite good. It’s energetic. I can say it was quite a lot of work today, but it was good because to me, I believe we will become successful at the end of the day the people who came out, there’s loud and clear, you can see it from all over town that they support this sort of movement.”

Abner Bacab, Independent Candidate, San Pedro

“Actually, I didn’t do any campaign. But, on the last two months, last week, I’ve been doing my campaign, like I said, since I brought my ambulance three to four years ago. So, all the people I help, they know what I do, they know what I’ve been doing here in San Pedro.”

 

Marion Ali

“You don’t have a council team. Why is that?”

 

Abner Bacab

“That is a very important question. I like your questions. I’m gonna answer it, and I hope I can answer it. Here, it’s been in the pipeline for many years, me running for council. This time, I was – I hadn’t decided. It was more people asking me to run.”

 

Throughout the day, the voters kept the process peaceful, but the police presence was evident. Assistant Commissioner, Howell Gillett was dispatched to San Pedro to oversee the management of the police presence.

 

ACP Howell Gillett, Officer in Charge, San Pedro Elections

“There’s no report to us that anything has gone wrong, but our officers, as you have seen, are in place. We – the community itself is abiding. Today is a special day in terms of it’s an election, but also there are some restrictions for liquor premises and everybody in our view is abiding by it. And if not, if we are alerted to it, then we address it right away.”

 

Indeed by the end of the day, there were no crime-related incidents and the polls closed without a hitch. The U.D.P’s former legal advisor, Orson Elrington was on the island as legal counsel for the U.D.P San Pedro slate. He explained to us what his role was for the day.

 

Orson “OJ” Elrington, Legal Advisor, U.D.P. Municipal Slate, San Pedro

“Legal counsel becomes most important at counting time, wherever there are any legal issues that arise. Legal issues arise every so often, but most of the time legal issues normally arise at the time of counting as you would know.

 

Marion Ali

“Pertaining to how ballots are cast.”

 

Orson OJ Elrington

“Correct, absolutely, whether or not a ballot can be considered valid or not, whether or not a ballot is a spoilt ballot or not, if there’s any infraction of the Election Rules, anything of that sort, right on the process is supposed to be conducted.”

 

As the residents and the candidates waited to hear the results, the aspirants from the major political parties were confident.

 

Wilfredo Alamilla

“I feel so positive. I feel so good because I have accomplished something that I really wanted to do in my life. And then I’m here today. It’s done and we just have to wait for the results. And I feel happy. I’m very positive, and whatever it is, I respect the position of the people.”

 

Wally Nunez

“The figures the way we’re seeing it, we are, we’re leading the way.”

 

Marion Ali

“In terms of the voter turnout?

 

Wally Nunez

“Voter turnout, it was roughly around the same, or a little less than the last. Less than 69%? Less than 69%.  And I understand there was a lot of people who couldn’t make it because of work, some people couldn’t travel.  But we’re confident that we have the support we were looking for.”

 

In the end, Nunez was victorious, as announced by the Returning Officer, Gian Cho.

 

Gian Cho, Returning Officer, San Pedro Elections

“Wally Nunez, Mayor, 3,651 total votes, 3,651. Dianelli Aranda, Councilor, 3,730 votes. Adali Ayuso, Councilor, 3,668 votes. Ernesto Bardales, Councilor, 3,527 votes, Jose Castellanos, Councilor, 3,535 votes, Johnnia Duarte, Councilor, 3,573 votes and Marina Graniel Kay, Councilor, 3, 611 votes. I therefore hereby declare the winner of the San Pedro elections as the P.U P. slate.”

 

Returning mayor Wally Nunez is ready to go back to work.

 

Marion Ali

“Mr. Mayor, how soon will you, return to office? And what will be the first thing that you will do?”

 

Wally Nunez

“We’re planning tomorrow to get back to work. And we’re planning to do the swearing in so that we can continue the work for the island.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.

 

The total number of voters who turned out in San Pedro was five thousand four hundred and four out of a total of eight thousand seven hundred and four.