Biazon, Fresnedi excited to serve in new roles as mayor, congressman of Muntinlupa

May 11, 2022 10:03 AM

On June 30, Muntinlupa’s newly elected leaders will assume office for a three-year term.

After the dust settled, voters elected outgoing Rep. Ruffy Biazon as Muntinlupa’s new mayor while outgoing Mayor Jaime Fresnedi will be the new congressman in the lone district of the city. Incumbent Vice Mayor Artemio Simundac was reelected for his second term.

New Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon (center), new Muntinlupa Rep. Jaime Fresnedi (right and new Vice Mayor Artemio Simundac (left) raise their arms after being proclaimed winners on May 10 in the May 9 election in Muntinlupa. (Jonathan Hicap)

The One Muntinlupa team led by Biazon, Fresnedi, and Simundac won all the positions, posting a 19-0 victory over its rivals. All their 16 candidates for councilor won in Muntinlupa’s two districts.

Biazon and Fresnedi told Manila Bulletin after their proclamation that they are excited to serve in their new roles as mayor and congressman, respectively, and they are happy about One Muntinlupa’s sweep of the local election.

“Yung sweep, it goes to show na yung unity at cohesiveness ng team nagawa namin sa kampanya to help each other out lalo na yung kumbaga, nangangailangan ng tulong, pinagtulungan namin para maiangat kaya dito pinapakita yung spirit ng One Muntinlupa (About the sweep, it goes to show that the unity and cohesiveness of the team, we did it during the campaign to help each other out especially those who needed help the most, we helped to lift so this showed the spirit of One Muntinlupa),” said Biazon.

This is the first time that Biazon will serve as mayor of Muntinlupa. He was elected as Muntinlupa’s representative five times. He won his first term in 2001 and was reelected in 2004 and 2007. He ran and won again as congressman in 2016 and got reelected in 2019.

Biazon said he is excited to serve as the new mayor “because it is a new opportunity to do some accomplishments.”

Members of the City Board of Canvassers proclaiming Ruffy Biazon (center) as the newly elected mayor of Muntinlupa on May 10. In photo is Biazon's wife Trina (2nd from right) (Jonathan Hicap)

Fresnedi started his public service after the 1986 historic EDSA Revolution. He was appointed as municipal attorney and was elected as vice mayor in 1988, a position he held until 1998.

In 1998, he ran for mayor and won and served for three full terms. He came back as mayor in 2013 and was reelected in 2016 and 2019.

Fresnedi said he is “very excited” to serve his first term as the new congressman of Muntinlupa, a new journey in his career.

“This is a new mandate given to me by the people and I will try my very best to represent the City of Muntinlupa in the Lower House,” said Fresnedi.

Members of the City Board of Canvassers proclaiming Jaime Fresnedi (center) as the newly elected congressman of Muntinlupa on May 10. In photo is Fresnedi's wife Loretta (2nd from right) (Jonathan Hicap)

Simundac got reelected for a second term and said he will support Biazon the way he supported Fresnedi.

“Pagkatapos nga ng eleksiyon na ito, natutuwa kami sapagkat katulad ko, itutuloy natin ang pagsuporta katulad ng ginawa natin na pagsuporta kay Mayor Jimmy Fresnedi. Ganon din ang gagawin nating pagsuporta kay Mayor Ruffy Biazon para tuloy-tuloy ang pag-unlad ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa (After this election, we are glad that like me, we will continue to support like what we did to Mayor Jimmy Fresnedi. We will also support Mayor Ruffy Biazon so that the progress of Muntinlupa will continue),” said the vice mayor.

Members of the City Board of Canvassers proclaiming Artemio Simundac (2nd from right) as the newly elected vice mayor of Muntinlupa (Jonathan Hicap)

The Muntinlupa City Board of Canvassers proclaimed the winners in the May 9 elections at about 9:11 a.m. on May 10, after 10 hours of waiting.

Inside the session hall of the Sangguniang Panlungsod at the Muntinlupa City hall compound, lawyers and representatives of different local and national candidates including presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and senatorial bet Mark Villar patiently waited for the results.

From midnight until the local winners were proclaimed in the morning, the representatives of candidates and members of the media stayed.

They waited until the results of the last polling precinct were tallied. While the leads of the local candidates were wide enough to warrant their proclamation, the board wanted to get 100 percent of the results before they proclaimed the winners.