CANDIDACY FILING. Incumbent Dagupan City councilor Celia Lim (left), wife of the late former congressman and mayor Benjamin Lim, files her candidacy for mayor at the local Commission on Elections office on Monday (Oct. 7, 2024). Celia's running mate is her son, former mayor Marc Brian (center) while her daughter Irene (right), will run as councilor. (PNA photo by Liwayway Yparraguirre)
DAGUPAN CITY – Incumbent city councilor Celia Lim is gunning for the city’s mayoralty post.
Celia, widow of former mayor and Pangasinan 4th District Rep. Benjamin Lim, filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office here Monday.
She and her son, former Mayor Marc Brian Lim, who is running for vice mayor, will face incumbents Mayor Belen Fernandez and Vice Mayor Dean Bryan Kua, who filed their COCs on Oct. 4.
“Wala may calling ko na kailangan (I have a calling that there is a need for) positive change for Dagupan City. I accepted this calling para labat walay naiter na marakep na ehemplo ed Dagupan aliwa labat na to win the election (I accepted this calling so that there would be a good example for Dagupan, not just to win the election). I think it’s about principle, conscience, values, and morality,” Lim said in an interview with the media on Monday.
Marc Brian, in a separate interview, acknowledged the importance of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council).
He was also a former vice mayor of the city before winning his mayoralty bid in 2019.
He, however, lost to Fernandez in the 2022 elections. (With reports from Liwayway Yparraguirre/PNA)
