Catholic priest beat political family in Southern PH

In the recent local and national elections, a Roman Catholic priest took a leave of absence from the priesthood to beat a political family in Mabini town, Davao de Oro.

Fr. Emerson Luego of the Diocese of Tagum City, Davao del Norte beat incumbent Mayor Reynaldo Dayanghirang of Hugpong ng Pagbabago regional party 11,419 votes to 10,210 votes.

Before the defeat, the Dayanghirang clan held the mayoralty post of the tourism-focused town for a long-time.

Luego, who ran under PDP-Laban, is very happy to win in his second political foray finally.

In 2009, Luego also ran as Mayor of Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte but lost.

As the new mayor of Mabini, Luego has vowed to initiate changes to bring more progress to his people.