Reelected Quezon Vice- Gov. Samuel Nantes with his wife Lovely and their daughters Reina Marie Samantha, Bettina Rafaelle and Sofia Samuel...
 |
| Reelected Quezon Vice- Gov. Samuel Nantes with his wife Lovely and their daughters Reina Marie Samantha, Bettina Rafaelle and Sofia Samuelle shortly after he was proclaimed. (Photo by Gemi Formaran) |
by Gemi Formaran
LUCENA CITY – It just gets bigger and bigger vote margin for the youngest Quezon vice governor when he was easily reelected as he overwhelmed his closest opponent with over half million votes in the May 13 midterm elections.
Samuel ‘Sam’ Nantes, 29, crushed his closest rival, former 4th district provincial board member Narciso ‘Archie’ Malite, with 530,857 votes margin with the former obtaining 645,574 votes as against the latter’s 114,717.
Nantes along with Quezon 3rd district congressman and now governor-elect Danilo Suarez were proclaimed by the provincial board of election canvassers led by Quezon provincial election supervisor Sheryl Moresca-Julie at the Sangguniang Panglalawigan conference hall here last Friday.
The young vice governor, son of the late Quezon Gov. Rafael Nantes and Phil. Charity Sweepstakes Office director Betty Nantes, first gained political position when he won the 2013 election for vice governor, the youngest at 23, and his critics attributed his victory over then provincial board member Romano Talaga as ‘sympathy vote’ owing to the tragic death of his father, who died in a helicopter crash in the afternoon on May 17, 2010.
The elder Nantes served as representative for the 1st district from 1997 to 2007 and was elected provincial governor in 2007 midterm elections.
The young vice governor Nantes won with 54,130 vote margin over Talaga in 2013 and this was repeated in 2016 elections when he ran for his reelection and defeated Anacleto Alcala Jr. with an impressive difference of 230,690 votes over the latter.
The unprecedented win for his 3rd term as vice governor and presiding officer of Sangguniang Panglalawigan prompted Nantes to exert more effort in leading the legislative branch of the provincial government for the crafting of well-meaning policies and programs for the benefit of the whole Quezon province.
