BY FELIPE CELINO
ROXAS City — Seeking reelection next year for his third and last term, Vice Gov. Esteban Evan Contreras will be running unopposed.
But the Liberal Party (LP) candidate is not alone — he is just one of the three LP bets running unopposed next year. The others are Mayor Leslie Warren Benjamin of Dumarao and Vice Mayor Wildie Apolinario of Maayon.
“I am very grateful for another mandate given to me by the people of Capiz. Rest assured that I will be faithful to my promises,” Contreras told Panay News.
Contreras is currently the League of Vice Governors of the Philippines’ regional director for Western Visayas.
He won as Provincial Board member in the 2004 and 2007 elections. In 2010, he won as vice governor over former Roxas City councilor Mark Ortiz.
Among the provincial ordinances he authored were:
* An Ordinance Creating a Provincial Council for the Welfare of Capiz Overseas Filipino Workers
* An Ordinance Providing for a Comprehensive Children and Family Support System in the Province of Capiz (Children’s Code of Capiz Province), and
* An Ordinance Establishing a Provincial Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons/Persons with Disabilities, Providing Funds for Its Operations and for Other Purposes.
Contreras was one of the 58 vice governors in the Philippines who recently completed graduate school education to upgrade their knowledge on improving the delivery of services to the public through effective and efficient local governance.
He completed the graduate school program of the Development Academy of the Philippines – Graduate School of Public and Development Management in Manila, receiving a bronze medal for academic excellence (third honors).
Contreras was adjudged Most Outstanding President of the Rotary Club of Metro Roxas during the 2009 Discon, Rotary International District 3850. He was also cited as Outstanding Public Servant in Local Governance in 2008.
He had undergone a Political Travel Tour in the United States in February 2006, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 2006, and Beijing in China in 2005.
The vice governor was born in Brgy. Bailan, Pontevedra town. He earned a bachelor’s degree in medical technology and passed the licensure examination in 1990. He is the son of former governor Esteban Contreras and the late Rosela Engan Bacero.
