NEWSFLASH

---

PASAY PREPARES FOR POST-CUNETA ERA

Pasay City, Nov. 3, 1997 - A 3-cornered fight is shaping up for the mayoralty 1998 election, with former mayor and now Congressman Jovito Claudio and Vice Mayor Peewee Trinidad at the forefront. A third aspirant is Ricardo Santos, a virtual unknown, who had spent 25 years as a confidante of ailing Mayor Pablo Cuneta.

Claudio, 72, defeated Cuneta in the early 70s, and is now serving his third and last term as congressman. Trinidad, 67-year-old close friend of Cuneta and now acting mayor, has successfully united forces in the city known as the Cuneta Block, and expect their votes.

Santos is banking on the support of barangay officials and youth organizations which he had worked with while with Cuneta. He presents himself as an alternative candidate to the other two who he identifies as traditional politicians.

So far, no member of the Cuneta family has openly announced plans to run for mayor. Elaine, the mayor's wife and mother of star Sharon Cuneta, is reportedly running for congress again. She was defeated by Claudio in 1995, but this time the two are rumored to be working together.

---