Reelectionist mayor threatened by Duterte with arrest wins in Malabon

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat of arrest against a reelectionist mayor over the drug problem in his city failed to resonate with voters as Malabon Mayor Antolin “Len Len” Oreta III won over administration bet Vice Mayor Jeannie Sandoval.

Oreta won a third term, garnering a total of 100,075 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. Sandoval was a distant second with 56,156 votes.

Oreta, a Liberal Party (LP) member, is the first cousin of former president Benigno Aquino III and opposition senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV. He is the son of former senator Tessie Aquino Oreta.

During PDP-Laban’s campaign rally in Malabon in April, where Duterte endorsed the candidacies husband-and-wife team reelectionist Malabon Representative Federico “Ricky” Sandoval II and Jeannie Sandoval, the President threatened to have Oreta “arrested” if his city’s drug problem was not solved in one month.

“Mayor, linisin mo ang Malabon mo. Bigyan kita ng isang buwan. Sabihin ko kay (Congressman) Ricky, sorry na lang ha, ipahuli ko mayor ‘nyo. Itapon na lang sa Manila Bay (Mayor, clean up Malabon. I’m giving you one month. I’ll tell Ricky, sorry, I will have your mayor arrested. Just throw him in Manila Bay),” Duterte said then.

The so-called “Duterte magic” did not rub off on Ricky Sandoval either as unofficial results in the Malabon congressional race – with 100% of precincts reporting – showed former Malabon congresswoman Josephine Veronique “Jaye” Lacson-Noel with 86,001 votes, over 20,000 votes more than the reelectionist congressman who got 65,229.

Oreta’s running mate, Councilor Bernard dela Cruz, beat Sandoval’s vice mayoral tandem, Councilor Maricar Torres, by nearly 20,000 votes.

The top 6 councilors per district are the following:

1st District